The Hogwarts Rebellion
by thelovelylydz
Summary: For a group of 5-6th years at Hogwarts, the rein of Umbridge has trampled their fun, their rights, and their style. So, they decide to rebel. Giving students tattoos, growing 'exotic herbs' in Herbology, taking teachers' things, and other mayhem ensues.
1. Chapter 1

rocco.

"Rocco! Stop that! No, clean up the mess, don't walk away from me!"

It took a good chunk of restraint not to retaliate against my mum. I had been smashing bottles against the side of the house. Dad said we should get rid of the bottles. And that's what I did. I got rid of them.

Walking back towards mum, I avoided stepping on the broken glass, and grabbed the broom and dust pan from mum's hands.

"Honestly, what goes through your head when you do these things, Rocco? It's as if someone has unscrewed your brain!" Mum chastised me. I glared at the floor not replying.

"Young man, you're going to need an attitude change if you still plan on leaving in a week. I know you want to see your little friends before school starts up again, but if I can't trust you in our own household, how can I trust you at your friends?"

I looked up at mum, who was standing over me, watching me sweep up glass.

"I'm not at their house. We're at a hotel in Diagon Alley." I replied, mock politeness hovering in my voice.

"Well! That makes me feel much more comfortable!" said Mum, sarcastically. She sighed, closed her eyes, and walked back inside our house.

"Love you too, Mummy dearest," I muttered under my breathe. By then, I had swept up almost all the glass, so I dumped it in the trash bin, while putting the un-smashed bottles in recycling.

I stood up and brushed off my hole-filled blue jeans. Looking, down my street, I saw a few of the other kids my age playing football on the front lawn. I had grown up with them, been good friends. Now we didn't talk. Not since I left for Hogwarts. But that was 5 years ago. The part that I really hated was that my parents had lied to me, saying those kids would be going to. When I asked their mother if my dad could drive the kids to the train station with me, she told me to go home. I'm in my fifth year at Hogwarts, and I haven't talked to them since.

They aren't the only ones that thought my family was loony. Practically the whole neighborhood knew I was being sent to a boarding school for children with 'special needs'. In other words, that I need special disipline. The people on our block don't even like to look at me. I guess they think I might burn their house down.

I decided today would be a good day to take a drive. My family had one muggle car, and we didn't drive it that well.

"Mum! Goin' for a drive!" I yelled into the house.

"Your Father's got a job interview today! Leave it!"

"Kay, bye!" I said, slammed the front door, and walked to the car.

About my dad, I didn't worry about his job thing. Dad kept switching jobs at the ministry, so he kept having to reapply. Dad also didn't like to apparate, which made the car preferable, since my house doesn't have a fireplace.

Inside, the car, I remembered the keys were inside. My first instinct was to use my wand. But then again, expulsion wasn't optimal. I pulled the backing off the dashboard, and flipped the trigger the key should have hit. The car rumbled to life as I replaced the dashboard, and then backed out of the drive.

Where I was going wasn't really important. It was just getting away from my house that mattered. My parents had decided to move into a muggle community in Surrey instead of a wizarding town in Bath. My mum was muggle born, so she decided she wanted to live with other muggles, or whatever. Dad didn't care that much, as long as we were close to his work. The house was small and cramped. It made me feel suffocated.

Along the road I saw a sign for the lake that served as my town's park. I swerved sharply into the lot, and parked.

There were picnic benches a few meters away, so I headed over to one close to the lake and sat. Taking out a pack of cigarettes, I lit one with a lighter, and inhaled. It felt good. My parents didn't let me smoke in the house or the car, so the lake was a good place to go. It was calming, helped all the stress leave my brain. I tousled my wavy, dirty blonde hair as if that let my head relax faster.

"One more week," I said to myself, "One more week."

It was the middle of August and I had been stuck at home all summer. I had written letters to my friends Dray, Leo, and Maddox, but I hadn't seen them since the end of school, and I wanted to leave home desperately. We had made plans to spend the rest of August at a hotel in Diagon Alley without parents, and then leave for the train together. My parents let me go reluctantly, but I promised that we would be under supervision, and would have responsibilities to look after my friends' younger siblings. These were lies, of course. No parents would be with us, and, although the siblings would be coming with us, I had no intension of babysitting.

We weren't going to throw parties and pick up girls or anything, really. My friends and I just wanted to experience some freedom.

In one week, I would be leaving for Dray's house in Bath, and as a group, we would all leave for London.

I noticed 2 girls walking towards the picnic benches chatting loudly. I ignored them until they sat down at a bench across from me.

"Hello," I said nonchalantly, "You two doin' all right?"

The girls stared at me strangely. "We're fine, thanks," replied one, "How are you," she said, clearly uninterested.

"Okay, I guess," I said exhaling smoke, and staring at the lake.

The two girls went back to talking for a while, but their conversation dropped off, and an awkward silence ensued. Trying to be polite, I asked,

"Either of you like a cig?" The one girl should her head; the other cocked her head to the side looking curiously at my cigarette.

"Smoking's bad for you, you really shouldn't do it," she said quietly.

"I know. I really shouldn't," I deadpanned.

"How old are you?" The first girl inquired, frowning at me.

"As old as you'd like me to be," I smiled, "Nah, I'm fifteen. How 'bout you?"

"I'm sixteen, she's fifteen," the girl replied, now obviously anxious to stop the conversation.

"How come you started smoking at such a young age?" The second one asked again. She didn't seem to mind me as much as the other girl, but I suspected she didn't have as much sense.

"Dunno. I was bored. One of my friends smokes cause his parents smokes, so he offered me a fag one day, I said sure why not, and now I smoke. Great story, right?"

The second girl smiled politely.

"Yeah, well, I think we'd best be going," the first girl said. The second one looked at her surprised. Her friend glared back.

I could catch the drift.

"Oh, no, don't let me ruin your evening," I said, stomping out the cigarette, "I'm just leaving."

I got back in my car and started to drive back to my house. Rummaging through the trash on the ground, I fished out an issue of the Daily Prophet. I was supposed to have given it to Mum yesterday. While driving, I glanced at the article on the page showing.

'Dumbledore Insists Dark Lord's Return'

I frowned at that. I had heard rumors before school let out that the Potter boy had seen the Dark Lord return, but I didn't know whether to believe it or not. My parents had figured, 'If Dumbledore sais he's back, he's back.' Me? I didn't know for sure. I respected Dumbledore and his wisdom, but I was the kind of person who liked hardcore proof.

Pulling into the driveway, I saw dad entering the house. He waited for me to get out of the car.

"You weren't gone that long," Dad said opening the door.

"Yeah, well, neither were you. How'd it go?" I asked him, walking inside.

"Position was already filled."

"Ah, shame."

"Yea, but what's there to do?" Dad sighed, and headed into the kitchen. I went upstairs to my room. I had some packing to do.


	2. Chapter 2

dray.

I really, really hated video games. They go so slowly, and they are so dull. I don't know why muggles think that elves wear tunics, and have blue skin, and can make magical swords that can 'cut through anything'. That's bowtruckle dung.

"Dray, Don't yell at the game, stupid," Lotty, my little sister, said from the other room.

"It helps!" I called back from my room, smashing my controller against the telly.

"No, it honestly doesn't. You're so thick sometimes," she responded.

"I didn't say it helped the video game. It helps me vent my anger," I snapped. Little sisters. What can you do with them.

Blowing my long, black hair out of my face, I attempted to make my character move faster by moving the controller around.

"AAUGH!" I growled, "WORK, you useless piece of junk! NO, I don't WANT you to go up there! What the flobberworm is wrong with you? Go. . this way! No, follow. . . . . aaaaarrrgh!"

"Quiet down, you!" Mum banged on the ceiling from downstairs. I sighed.

"'Kay, quieting!" I stood up, and smashed the television screen with my foot. Walking, out into the hallway, I ran into Lotty, my sister. She was wearing something I wouldn't let a prostitute out in.

"Where could you be going that you have to dress like that?" I asked her, blocking her from moving. She glared at me through her long, brown hair.

"Move, you ass, I'm going to Jordan's," she tried to get around me, but I stuck out my long leg to block her.

"Who's Jordan?" I inquired.

"Don't make me hurt you! I could snap you like a twig, spider," Lotty threatened, her face turning red. I smiled tauntingly, and bent down so our faces were level.

"I'm not moving until you answer my question. Who's Jordan?" "My friend, now move!" Lotty tried to get by again, but failed. "Uhuh. And what will you be doing at Jordan's house?"

"We'll be discussing SCHOOL. Now get off," I let Lotty shove me aside so she could get downstairs.

I walked downstairs too, and went into the kitchen. I had a really bad craving for some chicken. With mustard. And horseradish. And maybe coleslaw. I took out the ingredients and made a quick sandwich.

Mum, who was in the kitchen, glanced up from her Prophet. Her face showed her disgust clearly.

"Don't judge," I said, through a mouth-full of food.

"Honestly, I don't know how you stay so skinny when you eat like that," she said breezily, "Do you know when Rocco'll be getting here?"

"In an hour or so," I replied, wiping my mouth on my arm. "I'm gonna head over to Leo's. I'll be back soon, just going to check up on 'im. You'll be okay home alone?"

"Fine, fine," Mum said, busy reading.

I jogged out the door, and down the street. My friend Leo lived two blocks over from me, and I hadn't seen him in a few days. He was probably going to want to see Rocco when he got here, and then we would meet Maddox in London, where he lived, and then all head to Diagon Alley. 'Course, Lotty and the others Leo's siblings would be coming along, but they would probably go off on their own.

"Good afternoon, Darius. Still haven't cut your hair, I see?" My elderly nextdoor neighbor, Mrs. Woodwine called from behind her bushes.

"'Afternoon, Mrs. Woodwine. No, I haven't," I said jogging a little faster.

"You can come over any time, and I can give you a nice cut. I know a good spell that will do just fine," she called after me. I waved so she knew I acknowledged her.

Once at Leo's front door, I banged on it twice, and opened it.

"Leo, I'm here!" I called. He didn't mind that I came in on my own. Or, at least, he didn't tell me he minded.

"Upstairs," his father called from the dining room. He, like my mum, was reading the Prophet.

"What's in the news today, Mr. Tolson?" I asked Leo's father, leaning against the doorframe. Mr. Tolson threw the paper to me, and I caught it. Turning to the front page, I read, 'Fudge gives Key of Gringots to Circe's Corpse.'

My face must have shown my surprise because Mr. Tolson said,

"I know, nothing good in the news today. They're all too busy avoiding Dumbledore and his lot." I nodded, and tossed the paper back to him.

"That sucks. Well, have fun readin'." I jogged up the stairs, turned right, and banged open Leo's bedroom door.

Leo was cowered in the corner, his biceps pushed up against his shirt, and short brown hair sticking up in all directions. His face had a look of concentration. I laughed out loud.

"Are you jacking off?" I cackled. Leo looked up at me, obviously comprehending what I just said. He finally grinned and said,

"No, no, I don't pull that crap. Nah, I'm reading a magazine. It's a little hard to follow, though. My cousin sent me a muggle sports magazine. There's this thing called 'track'. They run in a circle, and leap over 'hurtles', and stuff like that. And it's a SPORT. They think RUNNING is a SPORT!" By this time, I dropped the muggle weight I had been lifting(Leo's got a ton of 'em), and gaped at Leo.

"You're joking," I stated, picking up the weight. Leo shook his head.

"I'm not, I swear. Here," he handed me a magazine showing a fit woman in a bathing suit grinning at me.

"I like the cover," I said, eyes wide. Leo chuckled.

"It's pretty good, pretty good," He said as he stood up and walked over to his bench press, "When's Rocco getting here? I want to leave soon. Mum's going all a fuss to get me ready for school."

I could never understand how a human could possibly lift as much as Leo could. Granted, I was not in the best physical shape, but Leo looked like he came straight out of a Fraternity. Just like any good Gryffindor.

"Rocco should be here in an hour," I said, putting down my puny weight, "Thought you might wanna be at my place when he arrives."

"Yeah, I'll come," Leo grunted, lifting up the steel bar, "You ordered your uniform yet?"

"No. I tried, but they're all out of Slytherin robes. They're gonna have to suit me up when we get there," I replied, "How 'bout you?"

"Figured I'd wait, too," Leo said.

At that moment, a small girl with strawberry blonde hair poked her head through the door.

"Leo, have you seen my slippers? Oh, hi," Janet, Leo's 11 year old sister, blushed when she saw me.

"NO, GO AWAY," Leo shouted back at her. Janet scampered away.

"Mum doesn't like it when you yell at her. Hey, Dray," Frances, Leo's older brother came in the room and sat down the floor, eating an apple. Frances looked quite a lot like Leo, except he was 2 years older, wasn't as muscular, and he had a permanently relaxed look to him.

"Hi, Frances. You excited for Diagon Alley?" I asked.

"Yeah, it'll be cool. But, just to keep it straight, I go in my room, you two don't bother me. I leave the hotel, you don't talk to people I'm with. Well, Dray can. You're in your sixth year, not fifth like this loser. You're alright, Dray," Frances smiled at me. I put on a forced smile.

"Right, I'm leaving," Leo got up off the press, "C'mon Dray. Fran, get out of my room."

I laughed, and followed Leo downstairs, taking the liberty to slide down the rail. We encountered Leo's mother at the bottom of the stairs, spray bottle and rag in her hand.

"Bye, Mum," Leo said.

"Bye, Mum," I said, and followed Leo outside.

Walking back to my house, I saw a car pull into the drive.

"He's heeeere," I drawled, and started running down the block. Leo caught up to me quickly, and we ran in synchrony up to Rocco who was just getting out of a beat-up old Volvo.

"Hey, Hufflepuff," I said, grinning, "What's shaking?" I gave him a one-armed hug, avoiding the tip of his cigarette as best I could. I gave him a cigarette once, and he never let go. It was probably the one and only daring thing Rocco had ever done with his life, and I made sure he was aware of that.

"Hello, Dray. You look like a string bean. Nice hair," Rocco said laughing, and turning to Leo.

"I don't do hugs," Leo smirked, offering his hand up for a high-five.

"Now you've made me look like a fairy. Thanks, Leo," I said as Rocco high-fived him. Leo laughed.

"Yeah, I know. Um, 'great' car, Rocco. I'm sure we can all fit in it."

"There's trunk room. I figured we could stuff Lotty and Janet back there, they won't mind," Rocco said, looking at his car.

"Er, Lotty has this pre-conceived idea that, since she's now a third year, she shouldn't have to deal with a lowly first year. Sorry," I said hesitantly.

"No problem. YOU can go in the back with Janet," Rocco smiled, breathing through the cigarette. I faked a laugh.

"Leo, I like your sister, but I'm not spending an hour with her. Lotty's going to have to suck it up."

"She does enough of that already," Leo snickered. Rocco howled with laughter. I punched Leo in the arm, though he seemed unaffected.

"Mind your own business, Tolson. You're going to be in the back with Janet," the last bit I directed to Lotty, who was walking up the driveway. She glared at me.

"Yeah, in your dreams. Rocco would like my company in the passenger seat," Lotty said loftily, and smiled at Rocco. Rocco stamped out his cigarette, glancing at me.

"Eh, actually Maddox always takes shotgun. Right, guys?"

"Right," Leo and I lied in synchrony. Lotty glared at me as if this was my fault and walked into the house. We followed her in, and was confronted with my mother.

"Dray, did you smash the set?"

"The what?"

"The set! The television set!"

"Mum, no one calls it a 'set' any-"

"DARIUS!"

All right, all right," I said defensively, putting my hands up in surrender, "I'll go fix it," I edged around her towards the stairs. Mum put her hands on her hips and looked at me.

"And how do you expect to do that without magic?"

"Ummm. . . "

Rocco decided to save me, and put in,

"I find that duct tape helps with a lot of things, Mrs. Dark. Hello, it's nice to see you, how are you? by the way," he smiled. "Hello Rocco, it's nice to see you too, I'm fine, thanks," Mum said wearily, smiling all the same, then to me, "Go fix it," she added menacingly.

Smiling, I walked up the stairs with Leo and Rocco behind me.


	3. Chapter 3

**leo.**

** I'm a teenage boy, and, as teenage boys are, waking up in the morning is the most difficult thing to accomplish in the day. **

** Unless, you are going to spend the day driving to Diagon Alley with your friends.**

** "Leo, what are you doing up? It's six," Dray said as soon as he opened his front door.**

** "I'm packed," I said indicating my luggage.**

** "Yeah, well, here's the thing, doofus," Dray grunted, rubbing his eyes, "It's still technically nighttime. Well, to me it is. We're not leaving until daytime. Also, your siblings aren't here, so-" he proceeded to close the door, but I stuck my foot out to block it.**

** "So, I'm spending the morning with you two. Move," I said, dragging my bags in his house. Dray glared at me, but didn't protest. He trudged into the kitchen and I followed, luggage in tow.**

** "I hope you plan on putting a shirt on today," he said, sitting down and lighting up. I looked down at my exposed chest and, if I may say so, perfectly toned abdomen.**

** "Jealous?" I asked, grinning. Dray exhaled.**

** "Disgusted is a better word. Sit down, make yourself at home. Morning, Mum," he said, talking to me, then his mother who came into the kitchen and proceeded to make a cup of coffee.**

** "Good morning to you two. Coffee, Leo?" Mrs. Dark asked me. I shook my head.**

** "No, thanks, Mrs. Dark. Coffee would ruin my health. As would cigarettes," I said staring down Dray.**

** "Actually," Dray said, raising his right hand, "I would like some coffee."**

** "Cigarettes and coffee should be used one by one, not at the same time, Dray. In fact, you shouldn't smoke so much, especially in the morning, it won't improve your sleeping schedule. Although," Mrs. Dark added, pouring her coffee, "I don't think you've ever been up at this hour."**

** "Ha, you think I smoke? You should see Rocco at it," Dray snorted, but put his cigarette out all the same. **

** "Speaking of which, I'm gonna go check on Rocco," I said, and proceeded to the stairs.**

** Once upstairs, I couldn't help but notice Lotty slept with her door slightly ajar. Dray was so oblivious to his sister sometimes.**

** Rocco was sleeping in the television room, which contained a couch, a desk, a rolling chair, and a television whose screen had been repaired by Mrs. Dark after a failed attempt with duct tape. Rocco was sprawled on the couch, limbs sticking out in all directions.**

** I decided to sit on him. Rocco yelped, and he impulsively kicked and flailed. I fell off the couch, laughing.**

** "Good morning! It's six!" I said to him cheerfully as soon as his limbs calmed down. Rocco squinted at me, lifted his head up slowly glanced at his watch, and moaned. His head dropped onto his pillow, and he rolled over.**

** "Aren't you going to get up? It's a lovely morning," I stated, tugging on one of his legs gently.**

** "Gmmmm ummmyyyy," Rocco whined into his pillow.**

** "Go away? No, I don't think I will," I replied, and sat down on top of him again.**

**"Guess what, though? Guess what? And I won't tell you what until you look at me." Rocco moved his head first, waited a few seconds, and then said,**

** "I can't roll over until you get off."**

** "Oh, sorry," I said, and moved to the floor. Rocco then proceeded to burrow his head back into the pillow.**

**"Ah, come on, now!" I said, shoving Rocco over, "Seriously, it's interesting." **

** "Alright, alright," Rocco sighed, "What." I grinned at him, and then said in a low voice,.**

** "Lotty's door is open." Rocco looked nonplused. I looked, wide eyed back at him.**

**"Don't you get it?" I asked. Rocco shook his head. I rolled my eyes, then looked back at him intensely.**

**"It means," I muttered, "that she probably left at some point during the night." I grinned as Rocco's jaw dropped.**

** "No," he said, shaking his head, "No, no. I mean, I know she's not an all together wholesome girl, but she's only thirteen. It's just tha- do you really think?"**

** "Oh yes. Don't mention it to Dray, though, he'll go ballistic!" I replied.**

** "Do I look suicidal? He'd rip my balls off," Rocco said, stretching. **

**"What are you doing here anyway? Franny's finally kicked you out?" He added. I snorted.**

** "Yeah, I'd like to see him try. No, I woke up, exercised, and came here. Frances and Janet'll come later," I told Rocco.**

** "Yeah, during human hours," Dray walked in the room and collapsed onto the rolling chair, which hissed and shrank down under the weight.**

** "Shut up. How was your night? Hope you slept well," I said in a fake sympathetic tone.**

** "It was alright. Watched television, packed, nothing special," Rocco said as he put his head back into the pillow.**

** "Anything on Wizard Watch?" I asked. Wizard Watch was the wizarding news channel. **

** "Nothing worth relating to anyone," Dray said, spinning around in his chair. I nodded, and stared at the blank television screen.**

** Rocco brought his head up from the pillow.**

** "Okay," he muttered, "I can't bother sleeping now. I'm getting breakfast," he got up and walked out of the door, Dray and I following.**

**. . .**

** "You're not pushing hard enough! The door will shut, you just have to put your shoulder into it!" Frances snapped at Dray and Rocco as they struggled against the car's trunk door. With everyone's luggage in together, there hadn't been as much room as we thought. Some of the luggage was strapped to the roof with bungee cords, but the trunk refused to shut.**

** I rolled my eyes and walked over to the car.**

** "Here," I said. Dray and Rocco moved out of the way as I grabbed the trunk door and brought it down hard against the door frame. The car shuddered, clanged, and then remained still. I smiled at my handiwork.**

** "Where am I going to sit?" Lotty whined loudly. She stood a few meters away, wearing sunglasses and a hoodie, and refusing to help load the car.**

** "Tell you what," Dray said to her, "why don't we leave you and your luggage here, and then the rest of us will actually be able to fit in the van?" **

** "Where ARE we going to sit, though?" Janet asked, more politely.**

** "Emmm. . ." Rocco contemplated, "Why don't we get two people in the front with me, and when Maddox comes, he'll take shotgun, and the others can move to the floor."**

** "Fine with me," I said, dusting off my hands. Frances shrugged. Dray cocked and smirked, as if to say, 'Why not?' **

** "Very good," Rocco said, "Well. Off we go, then."**

** I sat in back with Dray and Lotty while Janet and Frances sat up front. There really was no good position in the van. Either sit up front with my siblings, or sit in the back with Lotty. Fortunately, Dray sat in the middle. Although, to be fair, it was the only place with enough leg room for him.**

** The first half hour of the drive was quite possible the worst half hour of my life. Ten minutes after leaving, Lotty complained that she needed to use the loo. Dray told her she was going to have to wait, she whined, Dray told her to just go in her pants, Rocco interrupted saying it would ruin the seats, so Dray told her to just hold it in. **

** Then Janet started to feel motion sickness. I couldn't blame her; Rocco was one of the worst drivers in all of the UK. It was as if he didn't know the break existed. After Janet spoke, Frances opened the window for her, but thanks to a nearby dead skunk, fresh air wasn't very fresh. Rocco offered her a plastic bag in the back seat, but Frances insisted that she would just swallow whatever came up. Janet looked at him as if he was mad, but Frances ignored her.**

** The second half hour was mercifully very quiet. **

** And then we reached the city.**

** I loved driving down the streets of London, even if Rocco was the driver. The view was phenomenal, and it made me wish I had a camera. **

** I know it sounds sappy, but I did kind of hope that photography would be one of my talents. I'd never actually tried, but that was better than having tried and failing. Dray would call me a fairy if I tried, but I didn't care; I could beat him up.**

** The best view of all was the one of Big Ben against the sun. He rose magnificently into the air, towering above all others, poised and glorious.**

** "Does anybody know which street Maddox lives on?" Rocco broke my daydreaming.**

** "Uh, I can point it out on a map," Dray offered, examining a map that was stored in the passenger seat pocket.**

** "Better than nothing. Show me."**

** "There."**

** "Where?"**

** "THERE. Where my THUMB is. The FIRST finger."**

** "You're FIRST FINGER is pointing to an entire block!"**

** "Maybe I should show you with my THIRD finger!"**

** "Actually, that would be quite helpful, that finger isn't quite as wide as the thumb."**

** "Right there."**

** "See how easy that was?" Rocco said sarcastically, "Actually, we're quite close. Hold on."**

** Rocco exhilarated to a speed that was most definitely not legal. But it got us there quickly, and we stopped in a shady street with tidy town houses lined against the street. I'd been to Maddox's place once before, and all I could remember was that there were lions in front. And they had wings.**

** I told the group this as we piled out of the car.**

** "Alright, well that should be easy to find," Rocco said, standing with hands on hips, examining his surroundings. "It'll be very easy. As soon as I find a cigarette."**

** "It's right down there," Lotty said snottily, pointing down the street to a townhouse with a wrought iron gate, rose bushes, and sure enough, winged lions.**

** We walked down, and Frances opened the gate. As he did, the lions turned to look at him, blinked once, nodded to each other, and turned their heads forward again. Frances turned to look at us.**

** "Security," I said, blatantly. **

** Once up the path, Frances rang the door bell as well.**

** "Coming," a voice said, muffled. I heard footsteps, and then the sound of the door popping out of its frame.**

** Maddox, peroxide blonde hair, glasses, and all, stood in the doorway, a smiled brushed across his lips.**

** "Hello, all. Come in, come in, I'm not packed yet, and I'm sure the house is nicer than the car," he said in his voice that reminded me of an Oxford professor. He probably got it from his father, who, in fact, was an Oxford professor(both of Maddox's parents were muggles).**

** "Well, am I going to get greetings, or are we going to pretend we were never apart," Maddox asked once we were all inside his spacious living room.**

** "I'll hug you if you let me smoke inside," Rocco offered, and Maddox grinned.**

** "Ah, so cute, watching the Huffles hug," I said, smiling.**

** "Be quiet, Leo. Oh, by the way, 5th year dorm- an angry mouse lives underneath the far right bed. Don't pick it," Maddox told Rocco. Maddox was going into his sixth year, and Rocco was going into fifth. Maddox was more of a Ravenclaw kind of guy, though; he loved books like Rocco loved smoking. He wore glasses that made him look intelligent, shaped like wayfarers. They didn't look half bad on Maddox, however, since we wore a beanie almost every day as well. Glasses plus beanies equals good look. And, also, a few ladies(though Maddox never seemed to notice). **

** "While you freaks are sharing sentimental moments, do you have anything to drink?" Lotty asked, frowning.**

** "The kitchen is right down the hall. There's tea in the kettle," Maddox said. Frances, Janet, and Lotty moved to the kitchen, leaving us for alone.**

** "Finally," Dray said, reclining on a puffy suede armchair, "Thought they'd never leave. How was your summer, Maddox?" Maddox shrugged, leaning against the arm of the sofa.**

** "Rather boring, actually. The city is exciting and all, but I wish I'd gone somewhere on vacation. I read, most of the time. Yours?"**

** "Meh."**

** "You should go pack," Rocco put in, "We have to be at the hotel by 1."**

** "What time's it now?" Maddox asked looking around for his clock.**

** "12:29," I read from the grandfather clock in the corner. Maddox sighed, and stood up.**

** "I'd better get moving then. Anyone want to help?" The rest of us stood up, and followed Maddox upstairs.**


	4. Chapter 4

_maddox._

_ There was no room in the car for my things, or me for that matter. Leo managed to shut the trunk door, and everyone clustered into the car. I was about to get in the back, when Rocco coughed and said,_

_ "Maddox, aren't you going to take shotgun? Like always?" Rocco asked me, giving me a look that clearly stated I had to take the passenger seat._

_ "Right," I said, confused, "Like always. . ." Rocco mouthed 'thank you', and started the engine, not giving it very much time to warm up._

_ Driving to the Alley didn't take very long, only a few minutes, which was fortunate for me; I had terrible motion sickness, and Rocco did not understand the concept of driving very well. I offered to drive after it became clear he didn't know HOW to drive, but Rocco said,_

_ "No, it's fine, man, I don't mind driving. You just relax, make yourself comfy." I heard Dray snort in the backseat._

_. . ._

_Diagon Alley was full of bustling people, rushing around trying to make some last minute purchases._

_ "Remember: Don't talk to people I talk to, don't bother me in my room. Got it?" Frances said once we reached the outside of Worchester's Inn, the place we would be staying._

_ "I'm going to take Janet for her wand. Dray, you wanted to stop for robes?" Leo asked, handing Rocco his luggage to take inside._

_ "Can I come?" I asked, "I need a new set of pants, I've outgrown the last one."_

_ "'Course. We don't discriminate against Huffles," Dray grinned, and started walking down the street. I handed Frances my luggage, and set off behind him. _

_ "So, Janet," Dray asked once he slowed down for Leo, Janet, and I to catch up, "What house do you want to be in?"_

_ "I don't know really," Janet responded, looking around Diagon Alley curiously._

_ "Gryffindor. Of course she wants to be in Gryffindor. Right, Jan?" Leo said. Janet blushed._

_ "Sure, Gryffindor," she muttered._

_ "Now, now, don't give in to brotherly pressure," Dray reprimanded her, "I want an honest opinion."_

_ "And she honestly chooses Gryffindor. End of story," Leo stated, and then, "Ooooh, treacle tarts!" I laughed._

_ "Don't worry, Janet. It doesn't matter what house you're in, you'll like it no matter what. Leo, we can't buy candy, you need that money for the entire year. C'mon," I said, taking him by the arm and leading him away from the candy shop._

_ Dray and I parted from Leo and Janet at Ollivander's, and we headed to Madam Malkin's._

_ "Have you seen any classmen?" Dray asked, examining passing faces._

_ "No, haven't really been looking. Why?"_

_ "Seems like an awful small number of kids. . . . If any, really," Dray responded blankly. I shrugged, and turned left into Madam Malkin's._

_ "Hello, boys," Madam Malkin said as she stuck her grey head of hair out from under the desk, "Last minute robes, I see?"_

_ "I just need a pair of pants, size 28," I said, then pointing at Dray, "He needs new robes. Slytherin."_

_ "Alright. Come over here, I'll measure you up. Here," Madam Malkin handed me a pair of pants down from a shelf, "Sheila will check you out," she pointed at a slim blonde girl wearing a bandana._

_ "Hello," she said, shyly. _

_ "Hello," I handed her the pants, and she waved her wand over a tag._

_ "That'll be 9 galleons, 2 sickles, please," Sheila handed me the pants as I gave her the money, and then walked over to Dray, who was having multiple pins stuck into him._

_ "You boys are cuttin' it a little short, aren't you?" Madam Malkin said, "Are you sure you'll make it to the train in enough time?"_

_ "Well, we have a week," Dray said, wincing._

_ "What are you talking about? Are you two planning on going to school late?" Madam Malkin frowned up at Dray. Dray looked at me, confused._

_ "We don't have to be at school till the Eighth," I said to Madam Malkin. She shook her head._

_ "No, the First. Today. It's always the First. How long have you two been going?" Madam Malkin asked. _

_ "Son of a Bludger!" Dray said, "Oh no. Oh, no, Oh, no. Could you please hurry up?"_

_ "I will as long as you don't use such language," Madam Malkin chasticed, "Sheila will ring you up while I'm working, no problem."_

_ Madam Malkin worked fast, and so we thanked her, and hurried out of the shop. Dray and I jogged back to the Inn, but was confronted with Leo half way._

_ "Did you here?" Leo asked anxiously. We nodded. He beckoned us back._

_ "C'mon, everyone's already in the car. Hurry!" _

_ We started to run. Once back in the car, nobody complained of the conditions. Rocco sped down the streets, swerving fast. I felt nauseous inside, not from Rocco's driving, but from the prospect that we might be too late. _

_ 'What if we don't get back?' I found myself thinking. 'What if we miss the train? We might be stuck at home all year.' I dreaded the idea of spending 100 days in the house, wandering around, not allowed to use magic; contained to books. _

_ "Get out, get out, get out!" Frances shouted. I noticed we were pulled into the Train Station's lot, so I shoved open the door, grabbed my luggage, and ran._

_ "Wait," I said, stopping suddenly, "What about the car?"_

_ "It'll be taken care of," Rocco said, pushing me forward, "Somehow."_

_ Once at the station, getting through security and the toll gates went smoothly. I noticed a few teenagers in front of us who had a great range of cats with them; clearly wizards. Well, who else would bring cats to a train station?_

_ I had a cat, but I didn't bring him to school. I was afraid I'd lose him, and my parents were quite fond of him as well._

_ "I noticed that state-of-the-art security system you have," Leo said as we pulled our trunks down a flight of stairs, I sighing with relief, "Care to elaborate?"_

_ "Oh, that," I said, smiling to myself, "My parents have been reading the Daily Prophet, and they've also been writing back and forth with Rocco's parents. They know that Death Eaters are wandering around the streets, so they called up someone who could install security. Sorry about that, I know, it's a quite discerning at first."_

_ "Yeah, if you believe in that stuff," Leo mumbled. I frowned._

_ "What?"_

_ "The Death Eaters. He Who Shall Not Be Named," Leo made sarcastic hand gestures, "All of that bowtruckle dung."_

_ "Oh," I said slowly, "I was talking about how the lions turn to stare at you. . . I'm guessing your family is siding with Fudge, then." _

_ "Yep," Leo said._

_ I was going to retaliate, but at that point we reached Platform 9._

_ "Okay, Janet," Dray said, "All you have to do is-"_

_ "Run at the wall," Janet said quietly. She was shaking slightly._

_ "She has siblings, Einstein," Lotty snapped. Dray glared at her, and she glared back. I was so glad I didn't have siblings._

_ "Does it hurt?" Janet asked again._

_ "Yes, it's quite painful, really," Leo said, resting his arm on her shoulder, "As soon as you collide with the wall, there's this instant sensation that your brain has been sliced in two by the talons of a fire breathing-"_

_ "It's like walking through air, Janet. Don't listen to him," I interrupted. _

_ "You ruin all the fun sometimes, Maddox," Leo shoved me against the wall, and I fell backwards into Platform 9 3/4. _

_ "Sorry," I said, as I collided with a mother and her child. She humphed, and walked away. _

_ "Did any of you get my trunk?" I asked as the rest of the party came through the wall._

_ "Here, Party Pooper," Leo threw me my trunk. Mercifully, I caught it._

_ "I'm sorry, I'm an only-child. I don't know how to be mean to children," I said, walking in stride with the others toward the train._

_ "Hey, Maddox!" I heard someone call, and I turned to see Cormac Mclaggan waving at me, "Thanks for those Transfiguration notes! I didn't have to take summer courses," he smiled._

_ "How have you been, Cormac?" I called back._

_ "Good. I'm a prefect, you know," Cormac grinned widely, flashing his new badge. I smiled._

_ "Good for you," I gave him a thumbs up, and followed Dray into the train carraige._

_ "Git," Dray muttered as we walked down the carraige._

_ "Cormac's a nice guy, Dray," I said._

_ "Yeah, but he's a prefect," Dray said matter-of-factly, "I wonder who got Slytherin Prefect. . . I'll have to ask someone."_

_ Rocco stood holding open the door to an empty compartment, and I dragged my luggage in, and put in on a rack._

_ Dray let out a loud sigh as he sat down by the door._

_ "Thank Merlin we made it," he said, leaning his head back._

_ "You said it. I was so worried I wasn't going to be able to find you," said Leo as he put his feet up on the bench._

_ "Do you think we're allowed to smoke in here?" asked Rocco._

_ "For Merlin's sake, no," I replied. Rocco stuck his tongue out at me._

_ "Oi, Leo, check out that one," Dray said, pointing out of the door to a girl with long black hair walking past._

_ "Nice legs," Leo commented, leaning over me to look._

_ "Yeah, you missed the front," Dray said, grinning at Leo. Leo chuckled as I rolled my eyes._

_ "Oh, shut up, Maddox. Even a bookworm like you has looked at some assets," Dray said to me._

_ "Yeah, but not after I got to know her first," I responded. Leo snorted, and looked out the window._

_ "Whatever, lets not talk about stuff like that now," Rocco said, picking at a loose string on the bench's fabric, "I mean, just think," he looked up, smiling from ear to ear, _

_ "We're going back. We are going back."_


	5. Chapter 5

**plum.**

** I opened the door of the compartment. My friend Bambi was opening a chocolate frog when I walked in.**

** "Can I have some?" I asked, sitting down next to her. Bambi indicated a pile of candy on the seat across from her. I took a treacle tart from the pile and took a bite.**

** "Bambi, Bambi," I said, chewing, "I thought you said you were going to lose weight this year." **

** "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Bambi said, "That was before I remembered what a chocolate frog tastes like. So what if I'm fat? Who cares? It's good for you. If Hogwarts runs out of food half way through the year, I'll be the last survivor! Want a Merlin card?"**

** "Nah, already got a ton of them. Have you seen Trenna?" I asked. Bambi shook her head, biting into another frog. **

** "You know Trenna," she said through a mouth-full of frog. I did know Trenna; Trenna had been my friend since second year, her and Bambi's first year. She was a transfer from France, and there was nothing she loved more than gossip. **

**"Did you see anyone cute? In the compartments, I mean," Bambi asked. I smiled.**

** "Yeah. Yeah, there were a few. I was actually surprised at some Summer Transformations. . . . you know that one Slytherin boy?"**

** "Oh, yeah, I know the one. That boy. From Slytherin," Bambi said sarcastically, "C'man, Plum, who?" I grinned. **

** "Sorry. Emm, blonde. Kinda quite, looks permanently angry at the world. Ring any bells?" **

** Bambi frowned. "I think I know who you're talking about. . . Ask Trenna later. What about him?"**

** "I was passing by the Prefect cabin-" Bambi interrupted me by fake gagging. "Yeah, I know, I know, but hear me out. He's gotten much taller. And I think he started shaving or something. . . he looks older. I'll point him out later," I said, opening another pasty. **

** "Anyone else?"**

** "Yeah, there were cute faces, nobody I really recognized, though. I missed some compartments on the way back, I'll have to pass by them again. What do you think Trenna's up to?"**

** "Seeing what people got up to during break, who's the new 'it' couple, who lied to who. . . does it really matter?" Bambi asked.**

** "No, not really," I said quietly, playing with a strand of my bone-straight black hair. **

**"Hows your sister doing?" I asked Bambi. She glared at me, and I laughed.**

** "Ugh. Don't mention her. I am NOT going to let Basil butt into my life now, it's too soon!" Basil was Bambi's twin sister. However, the two were completely different, look-wise and personality-wise. Bambi had wavy, light brown hair that curled around her shoulders. Basil had a blonde bob that stayed in place with Spell-Spray. Bambi was short, and plump. Basil was thin and curvy. Bambi was a Ravenclaw, like me. Basil was a Gryffindor. Bambi was warm, trustworthy, and understanding. Basil was cold, back-stabbing, and inconsiderate. **

** "She had a good summer," Bambi admitted reluctantly, "Stayed out my way, mostly. I think she's glad to be back, though. I am, too. I like being around people," Bambi smiled at me.**

** Just then, a girl with a ginger pixie cut peeked through the window of the compartment.**

** "Plum!" Trenna exclaimed in her heavy French accent as she opened the door, "I've been looking for you everywhere!" she climbed onto the bench opposite, and brought her long legs up to her chest.**

** "You two are NEVER going to guess who I saw in the Prefect cabin- ooh, Plum, I like your bangs, they look good with your grey eyes," Trenna said excitedly, her green eyes sparkling with excitement. Bambi sighed, but grinned.**

** "Who did you see in the Prefect compartment?" she asked Trenna.**

** "Well," Trenna gushed, "For Gryffindor, it was Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley, which was COMPLETELY out of the blue-" I cut in,**

** "Trenna, I have no idea who Hermione Granger or Ronald Weasley are," I deadpanned.**

** "Oh, you know Hermione," Trenna swished her hand as if to say, 'Don't be silly', "she's my roommate, you've met her. Ron, ick, I'm not going to bother( she said it as 'bohzer'). Hermione was a no-brainer, but I was SO SURE Potter was going to be a prefect."**

** "Huh, yeah, that's funny," Bambi commented, "You'd think with him being Dumbledore's favorite and all. . ."**

** "Speaking of Prefects," I put in, "Who's the boy Slytherin Prefect?" I asked Trenna. Trenna's eyes got wide. A smile crept across her face.**

** "You saw Draco Malfoy?" she asked. When I nodded, she took a sharp intake of breathe, and exclaimed, "Sacre Bleu! Oh, Bambi, we'll HAVE to show you the work that has been done this summer," Trenna kicked her legs excitedly. I chuckled.**

** "That's what I told her," I said. **

** "Unfortunately, he's been dating the girl Prefect. Parkinson," Trenna's face showed her disgust, "Peu importe, no matter. What goes up must come down." I laughed there.**

** "What?" asked Bambi.**

** "Nothing, nothing. It's perverted, you don't want to know," I said. Bambi laughed along with me, and then said,**

** "So, did you see anyone else, Trenna?" Trenna pursed her lips, thinking.**

** "There was one boy. . . I don't remember him from last year," she muttered. I gasped dramatically.**

** "The Apocalypse!" I exclaimed. Trenna glared at me.**

** "Shut up. He had short, brown hair. . . God, his muscles were-" here, Trenna lifted up her arms as if to flex. "I wonder how old he was. Oh, by the way, Bambi, have you seen your sister?"**

** Bambi threw her arms up in disgust. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"**

** "Just wondering what she's been up to," Trenna said slowly, "I'm going to go find out. I'll be back to get my things. Bye!" Trenna rushed out the door and down the hall. **

** "Do you want to go back down the hall? See what you missed?" Bambi asked, gazing after Trenna. I sighed.**

** "Sure. But if we run into anyone I don't want to talk to, I'm coming back." Bambi stood up and gave me the, "Oh, please," look.**

** "Plum, you don't like to talk to anyone."**

** "That's because I don't like anyone."**

** "Exactly. Be more open-minded," Bambi said, holding the door open for me.**

** "No. I've accepted that I just don't like my generation. Hey, do you think that's the boy?" I asked, pointing into a compartment farther down the hallway.**

** "Don't point! He'll see that," Bambi hissed, then slowly leaned forward to get look.**

** "Bloody hell! You should see his muscles! Trenna wasn't kidding!" Bambi said quietly, but excitedly.**

** "No, thank you. I don't like muscles. Anyone else in there with him?"**

** "Suit yourself. Yeah, there's three others. I don't think any of them are Ravenclaw. Aww," Bambi cooed, "One of them has the most ADORABLE glasses," I laughed.**

** "They're not six, Bambi," I said, but I leaned over to get a glimpse. Sitting in the compartment were four boys. I noticed the one with the muscle right away. He was tanned, and the brown hair on his head was tousled perfectly. He was more Trenna's type than mine, and it was definitely the boy she noticed. Then I saw the boy with glasses. Shaped like Raybans, they were quite cute, I had to admit. His strikingly blonde hair stuck out from underneath a gray beanie. Sitting across from him was a boy with a messy head of dirty blonde waves. He was smoking, and leaning against the window. Next to him was a guy with a black mop of hair, bony features, and one hell of a smile. Even sitting down, I could tell he was very, very tall.**

** "Yeah, okay, the glasses are cute. I like the tall one," I whispered to Bambi.**

** "Ha, Mr. I-want-to-be-Joey Ramone? You would, Plum," Bambi replied, "And that's why I love you. C'mon, let's go find the Trolley. I'm thirsty. "**

** We turned around and started walking in the direction which the trolley headed. I looked in the compartments we passed. Groups of friends chatted lively, while others filled with people who obviously didn't know each other. I recognized faces of people I didn't like, faces of people that I thought were reasonably alright compared to others, and faces I didn't know but recognized from somewhere-sometime. **

** I was thinking so hard, I bumped right into someone.**

** "Woops," I said, and bent down to pick up a package the stranger had dropped.**

** "I told you to watch out," I heard Bambi say. I looked up into the face of the person. A boy with shaggy ginger hair and scrappy clothes grinned at me and took the package.**

** "Thanks. Wouldn't want to lose this," he said charismatically. I smiled at him. **

** 'This boy,' I thought, 'this boy I DEFINITELY approve of.' **

** "May I ask what's inside?" I said gently. **

** "No, you may not. But it'll be brought public soon, don't you worry." I frowned.**

**"It's nothing dangerous," the boy added hastily, "It's a product. Well, a prototype, anyways. C'mon, Fred," he called behind him. A boy exactly identical to the one I bumped into came out of a compartment.**

** "Sorry, I was getting the rest of the stuff. Here, take these," the second boy handed a few more packages to his twin, "Oh. Hello. Can we help you?" the second boy looked at me, and then at Bambi. **

** "No, thanks," I said, "I just ran into your brother. You are brothers, aren't you?" I asked as an afterthought. **

** "It's quite possible," the first boy said, grinning at me. I laughed politely. **

**"Well, see you around," he said, and started walking down the hall. **

** "Bye," I said, and started walking. After a few seconds I looked at Bambi. She was grinning at me. **

** "Twins!" she whispered excitedly.**

** "I love how the idea of twins excites you, when you are one," I whispered back.**

** Bambi broke out into a fit of silent giggles.**

** "Stop," I whispered, trying to not smile. I glanced behind me for a moment. The boy was looking behind his shoulder as well, but quickly turned his head back once he saw me.**

** Bambi giggled even harder.**

** "Stop!" I urged her, trying to stop smiling.**

** "Oh, there you two are," Trenna said, as we rounded a corner and came face to face, "What are you giggling about?" **

** "Nothing, it's silly," I said quickly, grinning.**

** "Oh, yeah. Nothing," Bambi said sarcastically between giggles. Trenna sighed.**

** "I'm not even going to ask. The train's almost there. We need to get into our robes, c'mon!" Trenna made her way back to our compartment, and we followed her inside.**

** "I've got an odd feeling that this year's going to be quite special," Bambi said, still giggling, as we got into our robes.**

** "Yeah. I've had that feeling, too," I mused.**


	6. Chapter 6

bambi.

"First Years! First Years, over here," I heard a woman's voice call over the chatter of arriving students. I frowned.

"Plum," I said, "Doesn't Professor Hagrid usually call First Years?" Plum looked over to where an old, hunch-backed woman stood, holding a lantern.

"Oh, good, Professor Grubbly-plank is back," Plum smiled.

"You prefer her to Hagrid?" I asked.

"'Course. Hagrid doesn't know anything about animals. Not scientifically at least," Plum shrugged. I had always liked Hagrid. He was much nicer towards the students, he didn't boss us around as much as other professors.

"Do you think they fired him?" I asked suddenly. Plum shrugged again.

"Probably not. Dumbledore likes him. Stop worrying about it, let's find a carriage," she said, and proceeded to look at which carriage contained the least awful people(in her opinion). I followed her.

"Where's Trenna?"

"Probably talking to the other gossipers. I don't want to sit with them. Hey! You wanna sit with muscle boy?" I looked at where Plum was pointing.

Sure enough, the group of four boys was sitting in a carriage with enough space for at least three more people. 'Muscle boy' was talking heatedly to a tiny first year who looked nervous.

I nodded to Plum, and we went over to the carraige.

"You HAVE to go with them, Janet! You don't have a choice! That's HOW THINGS WORK!" 'Muscle boy' shouted at the girl. She stared at him, then turned her frightened eyes towards us.

"It's alright, Janet. I'll walk you over," the boy with the glasses got out of the carriage and started walking over to the boats. Janet, the little girl, hurried after him.

"He's too good to her. Can we help you?" 'Muscle boy' asked us.

"Mind if we sit here?" Plum asked, even though she was already climbing into the carriage. I followed her, smiling.

"I'm sorry about her rudeness," I apologized for Plum, "She hates people, you see." Plum rolled her eyes.

"No problem, make yourselves at home," one boy said, "I'm Rocco, by the way. Care for a cigarette?" he offered. I shook my head.

"No, thanks," Plum said, "Our friend Trenna smokes. I never really got into it, myself."

"Good for you," 'Muscle boy' said, smiling, "I'm Leo. This here's Dray," he added, indicating Mr. Joey Ramone.

"I can introduce myself, I'm not a baby!" Dray snapped at Leo, then turned to us and said, "Hello, I'm Dray. And, you are?" I couldn't help but notice, he looked at Plum first. I smiled. 'Always Plum,' I thought to myself. Plum smiled, too.

"I'm Plum, nice to meet you."

"I'm Bambi."

"Plum and Bambi," Dray said, leaning back in his seat, "Odd names. Are they nicknames?"

"Bambi is," I admitted, "My real name's," here I grimaced, "Barbara." Plum laughed.

"As for me, Plum's my name, love's my game," she said grinning. 'Oh, my God,' I thought, 'Plum, you are ridiculous.'

"Really?" the smoker, Rocco, asked intriguingly.

"No, I just made that up," Plum admitted. I let out an internal sigh. "Hello," Plum said to the glasses boy who was getting back into the carriage.

"Hello," the boy said back, then looked at his friends for an explanation.

"Maddox, this is Plum and Bambi. Girls, this is Maddox," Dray introduced us. Maddox sat down next to me, and the carriages started moving.

"Oh. What year are you girls going into?" Maddox asked, looking at us intently.

"I'm in Fifth," I said plainly, "She's in Sixth. How about you?"

"Sixth," Maddox said.

"Fifth," Leo said, offering me a high-five. I high-fived him.

"I'm Fifth, too," Rocco said, raising his cigarette in salute instead of a high-five.

"I'm Sixth. Funny, I don't remember you from the First Year boat ride," Dray said, looking interestedly at Plum.

"Can't say I remember you either. People change," Plum said matter-of-factly. Maddox nodded in agreement.

"So," I said, trying to fill up the silence, "Any siblings?" I asked.

"I've got a Third Year sister," Dray said, still looking at Plum.

"I have a brother in his Seventh year, and a sister going into her First. That was her who I was talking to," Leo said.

"More like shouting at," Maddox muttered. Leo kicked him in the shin.

"Unlike Leo, I don't believe in Child-Cruelty," Maddox explained. I laughed.

"Hey! Dark, over here!" I heard shouts from behind us. Dray waved his hand.

"Brookings. How's it going?" He called back to whoever was shouting.

"Party in Slytherin Common Room! Bring friends!" Brookings shouted back.

"Will do! Oi, any of you like to go to a party?" Dray said to us. Maddox groaned.

"Not on the first night. I actually want to be awake during class tomorrow."

"Ah, C'mon! Where's your sense of adventure?" Dray asked.

"I'll come," said Rocco, "Would you two care to join us?" he asked us. I shrugged.

"I'll go if Plum goes," I said. Plum grinned at me.

"Yeah, totally. Where's Slytherin Common Room?" she asked Dray.

"Down in the Dungeons," Dray said, indicating down with his hand. 'He's hinting,' I thought, 'He is very much hinting.' Plum nodded.

There was a long silence. I examined all the boys faces. Rocco was looking up into the sky, blowing smoke rings. Leo was looking at everyone in the other carriages, sometimes turning around to look at Plum and I, then turning back. Dray was still looking at Plum, who was looking at other carriages. Maddox was staring off into the distance, thinking hard.

"Well," I finally said, "This is fun." The group chuckled a bit, and then fell silent again. I hated silence. It was awkward, and when you ran into the people you've shared a silence with, you always remember that odd few minutes where nobody talked.

"Who do you think's gonna be the Dark Arts teacher this year?" I finally asked.

"Well, it can't be Professor Moody again," Maddox commented, obviously relieved for the question, "Well, whoever he was anyways."

"I think they're going to have Dumbledore teach," Rocco said. Leo snorted.

"Then I'll be skipping. What do you think Dray?" Leo asked. Dray turned to him, surprised.

"About what?"

"About the Dark Arts teacher!"

"Oh. Yeah, I dunno who they're gonna get. It's definitely going to be another loony, though, they always end up as loonies."

"Why don't you like Dumbledore?" Plum asked Leo, confused. Leo shrugged.

"Team Fudge. How about you?"

"Team I Don't Give A Snitch," Plum said turning back to the carriages. Dray looked reasonably happy at this response.

"Me, too," Dray said, "Rocco as well." 'Dear Merlin,' I thought, 'Please don't let Plum forget the nice twin. I think he would treat her better. Please don't let Plum fall for it again.'

"I think Dumbledore's got the right idea," Maddox said, looking at Dray, "I trust him better than any government official. How about you, Bambi?" I was a little taken aback that he had remembered my name.

"Uh," I stuttered, "I guess Team Dumbledore, if I had to pick any. I mean, I care about whether You-Know-Who is back and all, but I just don't know who to trust anymore. Dumbledore seems like a better candidate," I said, trying to sound professional.

"Yeah, that's true," Rocco said, "I hate the Ministry. Fudge's a prat."

"Fudge's better than Dumbledore! He's off his rocker! I don't know how any of you can just fall for these LIES he's been feeding u-"

"Okay," Dray cut off Leo, "That's enough. Let's get off that subject."

"What house are you guys from?" Rocco asked me.

"We're from Ravenclaw," I replied, "None of you are, though." They all shook their heads in synchrony.

"Maddox should be, though," Dray said, smiling. Maddox shrugged, but I could see a hint of a smile on his face.

"I'm alright, I guess. I'm in Hufflepuff with Rocco. Leo's in Gryffindor," Maddox said.

"And I'm Slytherin, as you might have guessed," Dray said, grinning.

"Why did you start smoking?" I asked Rocco suddenly, "Sorry, if you don't want to answer that, I'm just wondering."

"Actually, I got him hooked," Dray answered for Rocco.

"Oh, so you smoke too?" I asked Dray. Dray shrugged.

"Yeah. Not as much as this loser, though. He smokes daily. I'll have a smoke at least once a week, but I don't over-do it."

"I hope to Merlin you don't smoke," Leo told me. I shook my head.

"I don't. I don't have anything against smoking, but I didn't want to smell funny. Also, my grandad died of lung cancer, so my family's not really pro-smoking."

"I understand that," Rocco said, throwing his cigarette over the side of the carriage, "Leo doesn't smoke because he's afraid it'll ruin his years of weight-lifting, and Maddox. . . actually, I don't know why Maddox doesn't smoke. Hey, Maddox. Why don't you smoke?" Rocco asked him. Maddox smiled.

"I don't know. I don't really think I want to smoke, that's all."

"You'd look quite Bohemian if you did," I said jokingly. Dray laughed.

"He's 'Bohemian' enough. Don't smoke, Maddox."

"Will do," Maddox said, smiling that ever-so-slight smile.

"We're almost there!" Plum suddenly exclaimed. Everyone turned around to look at the castle, growing slowly closer as we approached the front gates. I could see owls flying above the rooftops, and light was pouring out of the Great Hall. I smiled, and took a deep breath in.

"Oh, no!" Leo suddenly exclaimed, "I forgot to get robes, damn it." Dray laughed at Leo, but the rest of us ignored them.

"Is it wrong to say it feels like home?" I asked aloud.

"Absolutely not," Rocco replied, still transfixed with the castle.

. . .

Plum and I said goodbye to the boys outside of the Great Hall, and walked over to the Ravenclaw table. I noticed Trenna at the Gryffindor table chatting animatedly with another girl.

Plum sat down next to Eddie Carmichael, and I sat down across from them.

"How've you girls been doing?" Eddie asked, smiling politely.

"We're doing fine, Eddie," I replied, "How was your summer?"

"Horrible. How about yours?"

"Not bad, considering everything that's going on," I replied.

Suddenly, the room fell into a sort of hush. Plum frowned, and looked wildly around the room to see what was causing the disturbance. People were pointing towards the entrance, so I glanced down the row to see what was going on. I didn't see anything particularly special. Just a few students still coming in.

Then I heard the words 'Potter' whispered, and I noticed the boy hastily making his way to the Gryffindor table. He was trying hard not to stare at the spectators, and the black-haired boy went to sit down near a red-headed boy, and a girl with big, bushy hair. I noticed both of them had Prefect badges, and then started to remember meeting the girl, Hermione. She had been very polite, but a little bossy. Perfect for a Prefect.

The noise level in the room started to rise again. That's when I noticed the twin who Plum had run into sitting next to Weasley, the boy with the Prefect badge. He was looking around the room, though talking to his twin brother at the same time.

"Plum," I muttered to Plum, who was still trying to figure out what had happened, "I think the boy is looking for you."

"What boy?" Plum asked, looking around faster now.

"The one you ran into in the hall. He's at the Gryffindor table, sitting next to a Prefect."

"Oh, that's his brother," Eddie put in, "The Prefect is Ron, he's nice. He sometimes smells a bit odd, but he's a good kid. I know that's his older brother, a twin. I don't know their names, though. They tried to enter the TriWizard Tournament last year with an aging potion. They ended up growing full beards. It was hilarious," Eddie said, smiling.

"Oh, I heard about that!" Plum said, finally making eye contact with the twin, and waving. The twin smiled at her, and she smiled back. 'That's right,' I said, 'Go for the wholesome one. Well, somewhat more wholesome.'

"Do you think I should invite him and his brother to the party?" Plum asked me.

"What party?" asked Eddie, frowning.

"There's a party in Slytherin Common Room. Feel free to come, if you like," I told Eddie, "Yeah, sure."

"'Kay. I'll try and catch him once the- oop, it's starting," Plum said as the room fell quiet.

The First Years filed into the room, looking nervous. I loved watching the First Years get sorted; it was sort of like watching homeless puppies being adopted.

When Leo's sister, Janet's turn came to sit under the hat, I noticed her looking over to her brother. Leo waved encouragingly back at her. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head. The hat muttered for a few moments, and then finally called,

"HUFFLEPUFF!" I applauded along with the rest of the Hufflepuffs, and watched Janet make her way over to where Maddox was sitting with Rocco. Looking back at Leo, I could see his head in his hands. He looked up eventually, and clapped along half-heartedly with the last of the applause. Janet was red in the face, looking glumly down at the table. I could tell she was trying not to cry. Maddox whispered in her ear, trying to cheer her up. I felt bad for Janet; sibling pressure made life difficult(believe me. I know.). But Hufflepuff was a good crowd of kids, and she was sure to feel at home in no time.

The time came for Dumbledore to stand up. I tuned out of Dumbledore's speech. I never listened to it. Dumbledore was a smart guy, but I didn't really want to listen to the same thing over and over.

And then there was a cough. A tiny, high-pitched cough. I looked up. This had never happened before! Dumbledore had sat down, and a woman's voice was talking. I looked up and down the professors' table, and saw a squat, tight-mouthed woman. I tried listening to what she was saying, something about 'Pruning where pruning was needed' or something along the lines of that. I couldn't keep up with it. I looked at Eddie, but he, too, was clearly lost, though trying to appear as if he understood. Plum was twiddling her thumbs on the table. Down the table, I heard Cho Chang chatting with her friends. Glancing over at the Gryffindor table, Trenna was doing the same.

Eventually, someone started applauding, and I joined in. After that, I was feeling quite exhausted.

"Who was that?" Plum whispered to me. I shrugged.

"Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Eddie said, "Professor Umbridge."

"Oh," Plum said quietly, and turned to look at Professor Umbridge. The woman was smiling at all of us as if we were cute little kittens. I could tell that I wasn't going to enjoy DADA this year(DADA is what most kids called Defense Against the Dark Arts, since the actual name's a mouthful).

Finally, food appeared on the tables. I grabbed a chicken leg, and a bowl of salad, and dug in. The food was excellent. My family had a house elf, Flutter, who was a very nice little creature, bless her heart, but she often undercooked meat. I savored every bite of the chicken.

I spent the time chatting with Eddie about the next Quidditch World Cup, while Plum tried to make eye contact with the twin. Eddie, who had become very Pro-Bulgaria since last year, was enthusing about Victor Krum's new trainer line.

"They're brilliant!" Eddie said, bringing his foot up to show me his maroon running shoe, "It feels like walking on air. And they absorb sweat, so you don't have to wear socks!"

"Eeugh! Eddie, that's disgusting!" I said while Plum laughed wildly.

"It's true," Eddie added, smiling.

"I think you're still supposed to wear socks, whether the shoe absorbs it or not," I said slowly. Eddie shrugged and took a bite of pumpkin pie.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, I'll see you guys at the party later, okay? I'm gonna go unload the trunk." Eddie said, starting to get up.

"Oh!" He added, "The question for this month is 'How do we escape the labrynth?' Think about that one hard, it took me the whole train ride to come up with a good response," Eddie said.

"Will do. See ya," I called after him.

"We should probably get a move on, too," Plum said, swallowing her pudding, "I want to unpack before the party."

"Alright," I said, getting up, "I'll bring your luggage up, just go tell Trenna and the boy, okay? Oh, and try and find out his name, I don't want to call him 'boy' for the rest of his life," I said walking down the aisle towards the entrance.

. . .

"How do we escape the Labrynth?" The Eagle door-knocker asked me once I had dragged up the two trunks.

"We can't," I told the Eagle matter-of-factly, "The Labrynth never ends even after death. The Labrynth represents suffering, and since there will always be a suffering in a person's life, or afterlife, the Labrynth stays with us." 'That was pretty good,' I thought, 'When did I think of that?'

"Thoughtful answer, controversial,' The Eagle said, and the door swung open. I lugged the trunks into the room, and up the girls' staircase. I put my trunk next to the far left bed in the Fifth year dorm, and then dragged Plum's trunk up to the Sixth year room. The only person in there was Cho Chang.

"Hey," I said, "Could you make sure Plum knows this is here tonight? I don't want to decide her bed without talking to her, so. . ."

"Plum always takes middle-right," Cho said kindly, and took Plum's trunk over to the correct bed.

"Oh. Thanks," I said, and hurried down the stairs, through the Common Room, and out the door. Plum was at the bottom of the stairs.

"No time to unpack," she said quickly, "The party's already started. Let's hurry."

We jogged down the enchanted staircase, down the marble staircase, and down the dark, gloomy staircase leading to the dungeons.

"Left," Plum directed me, "They're under the lake."

I could here the sound of music and cheering becoming louder and louder as we hurried. Soon, we made an abrupt right. A boy with tousled brown hair was holding a door open for us. Plum and I walked in, and was greeted with a loud chorus of,

"PARTY!"


	7. Chapter 7

trenna.

"Bambi! Plum! You came, I thought you were going to bail!" I exclaimed as soon as I spotted the two walking through the door.

"What?" Bambi tried to call over the music. I waved my hand to pass it over. Holding up a cup, I asked,

"Want a drink?"

"Ooh, yes, please," Plum said, grabbing the drink greedily from my hands. I smiled; Plum had a weakness for butterbeer. And scotch. And brandy. And martinis. And wine. And pretty much anything that contained alcohol.

Bambi headed towards the dance floor, where she was greeted by Ernie Macmillan. Plum waved at somebody across the room, and walked away, leaving me on my own.

Looking around, I tried to find a group of girls. I spotted Heidi North, Slytherin, sitting on a couch chatting animatedly with a girl I didn't know.

"You can never have too many friends," I said to myself, walking to the couch.

"Hello, Heidi," I said, sitting down between her and the other girl, "How was your summer?"

"Oh. Hi, em. . . Trenna. My summer was uneventful, I guess. Actually, I was just talking to Rose here about her summer," Heidi said to me, fake-smiling. I had a feeling that Heidi and I weren't going to be very close this year.

"Hm. Care to elaborate?" I asked, turning to the other girl, Rose. She looked taken aback.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude," I apologized, "I'm Trenna. Nice to meet you. Would you like a drink?" I asked, grabbing a drink off a nearby table.

"Um, actually, we were kind of having a private discussion. Sorry, Trenna," Heidi interrupted. My smile fell.

"Alright," I managed, hoisting myself off the couch, "I can understand. Catch you later."

Nobody wanted to share this year. Out of all my normal 'information friends', nobody was willing to spill a secret. Not a single one. I blamed it on this dumb He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named business, but that didn't give people a single reason not to tell me who Jeffrey Miller FINALLY lost his virginity to.

"Looking for somebody to talk to?" Bambi said from behind me. I nodded, giving her an exaggerated pouting face.

"Nobody wants to talk to me," I whined, leaning up against a wall.

"I'm sorry," Bambi, said, her face all scrunched up, "But this music is really hurting my e-"

"It's as if the whole school's suddenly turned against me," I interrupted Bambi. I loved Bambi, but honestly, my issues were a bit more important.

"It's not that," Bambi assured me, "You need to find a new hobby, Trenna. Eventually, there will come a time when no one wants to gossip with the same people. They know you can't keep a secret. Why do you think Ian was dumped by Wendra last year?"

"It's not gossip!" I defended myself immediately, "I'm just interested in what people are going through, I'm not trying to invade any privacy. . . well, not the privacy of anyone I like. . ." I folded my arms and looked around the room.

Somebody had gotten a really rotten school band to play. Luckily, the music was so loud nobody could tell whether the musicians could play or not. Groups chatted in corners. Near the fireplace, a group of Gryffindors were chanting, 'Chug! Chug! Chug!' while a Ravenclaw downed a flask of butterbeer. Couple lay on the couches, groping and flailing tongue.

"You see, by this time last year, I'd KNOW who those two were," I said to Bambi, indicating a particularly vivacious couple.

"I think I know what you need," Bambi said, examining my face, "I think you need a man in your life. I mean, think about it, Trenna; when was the last time you were in a really good relationship?" I laughed.

"That's your answer to everything, Bambi. 'You need a guy to cheer you up!' 'When was the last time you really had feelings for someone, huh?'" I mimicked. Bambi smiled.

"I'm serious! Having a significant other makes you feel less. . . alone. Less unwanted. Do you get what I'm playing at?"

"Okay, well, I'm gonna ask you," I said, staring directly at Bambi, "When was the last time YOU were in a good relationship? When was the last time YOU felt less 'unwanted'?" Bambi sighed.

"See, I'm better at being the match-maker. I don't think guys really like me. I've learned to make other people happy before considering what I want"

"But that's sort of like volunteering to have your feelings and emotions trampled on just so others can be happy," I commented. Bambi shrugged.

"I haven't really seen anyone lately who could be worthy of giving me emotions to be trampled. Hey, how about that strong boy you were talking about? Plum and I shared a carriage with him and his buddies. Oh, wait," Plum frowned suddenly, "He's anti-smoking. That puts you out of the running. Sorry."

"Anti-smoking, eh?" I muttered, glancing over at the boy I had noticed. He was laughing at something his spectacled friend had said. They were standing close to the temporary stage that contained the band.

"I can work on that. What's his name?"

"Leo," Bambi told me, "His friend's name is Maddox. He's a sweetie," she said, smiling. I looked at her. She looked back at me.

"Well, come on, then. Introduce me!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, right," Bambi replied, grinning. I followed her over to where the two boys were standing. As soon as he saw her, the boy, Leo, grinning and waved.

"Bambi," he said, putting an arm around her shoulder when we reached them, "Nice to see you. How have you been since I last saw you? It's been a long time. Almost. . . 3 hours, I'd expect," Leo said.

"I've been fine, thanks. How've you been? I hope you've kept your health," Bambi said jokingly. Leo grinned and shrugged.

"Well, you know me, I like to stay fit." Bambi laughed at him.

"Hi, Maddox," she said, smiling at the boy with glasses. He smiled a tiny smile back.

"Hello. Who's your friend?" he asked, looking at me.

"Oh, right. This is Trenna, guys," Bambi said, gesturing towards me. I waved at them.

"Ah, the smoker. You'd get along great with our other buds, Dray and Rocco," Leo suggested, indicating the band on the stage. I looked at him in disbelief. 'Nice to meet you, too,' I thought to myself, 'Was really looking forward to getting to know your other, less attractive friends'.

"Dray's guitarist and singer, Rocco's drummer. They both smoke," Leo kept going, taking a sip of his drink. I nodded, looking at the guitarist. He was unbelievably tall, and thin as paper. He was screeching into the microphone, and once the song was done, he spat into the crowd. I could feel my face wrinkling in disgust.

"Yeah," I deadpanned, "I'm gonna go find Plum. See you people later," I said, waving goodbye. 'So much for that boy,' I thought.

"Have you seen Plum?" I asked Heidi as I passed her.

"Uh, I think I saw her over by that wall," Heidi said pointing, "She was talking to a boy." I felt my back straighten. 'Maybe tonight won't be as boring as it seems,' I thought, smiling internally.

"Thanks," I said, already walking over to where Heidi had pointed. There was a group of boys chatting against the wall, and a small door behind them, probably a coat closet.

"Have you seen a girl, sort of short, black hair?" I asked the boys, "I think she was talking to a boy."

"Oh, yeah, she was talking to George," one of the boys smiled, while the others chuckled, "Yeah, I think she's in there," he said, indicating the closet. I blinked a few times, then turned to the closet. I put my hand on the doorknob, and paused for a few seconds before I wrenched the door open.

Inside, I could make out the silhouette of Plum pushed against the wall of the closet. In one hand, she was holding a drink. The other was gripped against the neck of a boy who I did not know, but who was quickly learning the anatomy of Plum's body. After a few seconds, the two turned to look at me. Plum would have looked like a deer caught in headlights, but there was a daze in her look that made her face lack surprise. I suspected Plum had found a few more drinks since I last found her.

"Oops, sorry, don't mind me," I said quickly, slamming the door shut. I left my hand on the doorknob for a while. There was a wide smile on my face, I could feel it. 'Oh, yes,' I thought, 'Tomorrow will be great fun.'

"Nice," I heard one of the boys say between laughs. I looked at the group, who were trying hard not to crack up.

"She's a friend," I explained, "I have a right to know."

"Things don't work that way," the boy retorted, "Well, not in the real world, anyways." I frowned. I hadn't been expecting rudeness.

"You're Trenna, right?" another boy asked quizzically. I nodded reluctantly.

"See, I told you she was the one," the boy said to his friends.

"I'm the what?" I asked.

"Oh, everybody knows you," the boy explained to me, "Last year, you couldn't keep your mouth shut. Couldn't be a good person, eh? Just had to blab. Just so you know, don't be expecting any 'hot stories' this year. I think everyone's learned to stay away," he said animatedly, his friends laughing. I glared at him.

"Oh, because you would know. Because you're in on all of my conversations, and you know all the people I talk to, you know what they've told me. Isn't that right? You think you're King of the Land?" I retorted.

"Not necessarily," the boy said calmly, "I'm Ian. I believe someone told you about 'my girl, Bessie'. You immediately told my girlfriend, causing her to break up with me. Bessie's my dog." the boy said, smiling wickedly. The group howled with laughter. I glared at him, and started walking towards the door.

"Next time, check all your facts before you make a fool of yourself!" Ian called after me as I opened the door of Slytherin Common Room, and stormed back all the way upstairs to my dorm, where I used my pillow as a punching bag.

authors note- I'm sorry this chapter took me so long to get up! School has just started and it has taken up 95% of my time. But I'm not going to stop writing- I plan to finish this thing to the end! Also, this chapter was kind of hard to write because personally, I don't like Trenna.


	8. Chapter 8

**plum.**

** I woke up with a pounding in my head.**

** "Nnnnnggg," I grunted into my pillow.**

** "Get up, Plum, you're going to be late for breakfast," Fifi, one of my roommates, said as she pulled open the blinds.**

** "AAGH! Stop," I whined, shutting my bed hangings to get rid of the blinding light.**

** "Plum! You know, this is your fault, really. You shouldn't have gotten drunk the first day of school. You deserve it. I have no pity for you," I heard Fifi say tartly, and she stalked out of the room. **

** I sighed. Fifi could be brutally honest sometimes. But she knew how to make a person feel guilty. I slowly eased myself out of bed and got dressed out of my still unpacked trunk.**

**. . .**

**Stumbling into the Dining Hall, I heard-**

** "There you are! I saved you a bagel. Why are you so late?" Bambi waved me over to where she was sitting among the remaining students. I sat down next to her and squinted at the bagel on her plate. It took a while for me to reach over and take it.**

**"Are you tired or are you hung over?" Bambi asked me cautiously.**

** "Both. I think," I muttered, nibbling on my bagel.**

** "Hello, you two!" I heard from behind me. I winced in pain as Leo sat down next to me at the Ravenclaw table.**

** "Not. So. Loud," I managed. Leo laughed.**

** "Someone's been a naughty, naughty girl. Let's be honest- how much did we have to drink last night? Four? Five?" Leo asked me jokingly. I glared at him.**

** "You were drinking, too. How can you be so peppy?" I retorted. Leo shrugged.**

** "I know my limit. And how are you this fine morning, Miss Bambi?" Leo said, putting his elbow on the table.**

** "Move over," Maddox came from behind Bambi and sat down next to her.**

** "I feel good. Didn't drink last night, which helps. How are you, Maddox?" Bambi said, helping herself to half of my bagel.**

** "After looking at Plum, I feel like a million gallons. Here, take one of these," Maddox said, offering me a tiny orange pill. I took it from him, looking(well, squinting) at it quizzically.**

** "May I ask what's in this?" I asked uncertainly.**

** "It's just an aspirin. Muggles use it all the time, it's quite helpful," Maddox said cheerily. I looked at him, then at the pill.**

** "What should I do, Bambi?" I said. Bambi shrugged.**

** "I trust Maddox. Go for it. I don't think it'll kill you," Bambi responded. Maddox beamed at the approval.**

** "Do it, do it, do it," Leo chanted, pounding on the table. I sighed, grabbed a glass of water from the table, and downed the pill.**

** I sat for a few moments, waiting for the relief to kick in.**

** "I think your pill's malfunctioned," I told Maddox, "It isn't working." Maddox chuckled.**

** "Pills don't 'malfunction'. It'll take at least a half hour for the effect to come, just wait. What's your first class?" He asked. **

** "Uh. . . Transfiguration, I think," I responded, getting up from the table. The others followed suit.**

** "Oh. That's with Gryffindor, I think. Well, maybe I'll see you later," Maddox said, and headed out of the Dining hall, "Bye, Bambi."**

** "Bye," Bambi called after him. "You're in 5th, right, Leo? What do you have?"**

** "Potions," Leo grimaced. **

** "What a surprise! That's what I've got. Lets get down there before Snape decides to cut our feet off," Bambi exclaimed. The two laughed and walked off together.**

** "Bye," I muttered under my breathe. Puffing out my cheeks, I looked around the room. Only a few people were left and they were mainly first years. I made the quick decision to hurry off to Transfiguration.**

** Once in the tower, my head started to feel slightly relieved. I made a mental note to thank Maddox later. But as soon as Professor McGonagall walked in and started writing on the board, my mind fell back asleep.**

**. . .**

** "Oi! Wait up!" I had been trudging down to Care of Magical Creatures when I heard Dray's voice from behind me. Turning around, I saw him sprinting down the hill to me, grinning that amazing grin of his. I smiled back, sleepily.**

**"You alright? You seemed pretty hammered last night," Dray said as soon as he caught up with me. Underneath the great mat of shaggy black hair, his eyes looked concerned. I shook my head.**

** "I was. At least, I think I was," I said. Dray laughed.**

** "Did you hear my band playing? We're called the Accio Act, we pretty much play at every party during the school year. Not because we're good, or anything, but because we're the only school band besides the Chorus. You're not in chorus, are you?" I shook my head.**

** "Good. Maddox is. He'd be better off singing with the band," Dray said matter-of-factly.**

** "Huh. So," I said, trying to think of things to say, "You're in Care of Magical Creatures with me. That's cool," I said sarcastically. Dray grinned again.**

** "Yeah, because I'm required. We should really work on shortening that name, too. Care of Magical Creatures, I mean. Like we did with Defense Against the Dark Arts. So, that would make it. . . . . Comc," Dray said, frowning. I laughed for a long time, but then it started to make my head hurt again, so I tried to keep my mouth shut. Looking at Dray, he was smiling to himself as well.**

** "I think we'd better stick to Care of Magical Creatures," I said, trying hard not to giggle. **

** "Right," Dray said just as we reached the edge of the forest where class traditionally met.**

** "Ugh. I hope we're not doing anything with flobberworms. I hate bugs so much," I said, scrunching up my nose.**

** "Yeah, something that has fur would be nice for a change," Dray contemplated.**

** "Alright, class. Follow me," I heard Professor Grubbleyplank say, and the class started to march into the forest.**

** "Fantastic," I muttered under my breath, and I shuffled after the group, keeping my distance. Dray stayed by my side.**

** We caught up to the group after a while, and we followed Professor Grubbleyplank into a clearing containing many tied up white beasts. I heard many exclamations of 'Unicorns!' and sounds of affection.**

** "Unicorns? Ooooooooh!" I said in a fake, high-pitched voice. Dray chuckled.**

**"I'm sorry if you don't like hearing people complain, but I seriously don't want to put up with this bowtruckle dung right now. I don't care if I have to stay awake, but I am not in the mood to hear a bunch of useless facts about a bunch of useless ponies," I admitted.**

** "That's no problem. Wait a few minutes, and then we can leave," Dray told me. I frowned.**

** "This class lasts 80 minutes," I said slowly. Dray smiled at me and said,**

** "I'll tell you when. Just sit tight for now." I stared at him for a while, but Dray had decided to stare at Professor Grubbleyplank as if he wanted nothing more than to know everything he could about unicorns. My mind was quite confused, so I shook it as if that would help clear my thoughts. Instead, it brought a sharp pain into my right temple. **

** The class continued, and I decided to stare at my feet to pass the time.**

** Then I felt Dray tap me on the shoulder. When I looked at him, he put his long, bony finger over his mouth, and beckoned behind him to a small patch of shrubs. If we edged slowly over to the plants, it would have been possible to duck behind them, and make our way out of the clearing. Dray started moving first; I turned back to Professor Grubbleyplank, who was talking with extreme gesticulation, and slowly moved sideways over to where Dray was heading. As soon as he was standing next to the bush, Dray crouched down as if to tie his shoe. While squatting, he krept behind the bush. **

** It took a lot of restraint not to burst out laughing at the scene. Dray was simply too long to squat and walk without looking ridiculous. His knees shot upward, almost to his shoulders, so that his legs could fit underneath him.**

** After half a minute, I copied Dray's actions, and finally met him just as he was about to get onto the path we had taken to class. He grinned when I stood up, brushing off my skirt.**

** "Exhilarating, isn't it?" Dray said, nudging my shoulder. I smiled.**

** "That's not the exact word I would use. Now, if we had knocked out Professor Grubbleyplank, jumped onto a unicorn and set the rest loose, now THAT would have been exhilarating," I told him. Dray laughed wildly at this.**

** "I'll have to remember that for next time," Dray said as we made our way down the path. After a few moments of silence he added, "Well, let's not wait about. Catch me if you can!" And with that, Dray took off down the path, leaving a trail of dust behind him. I felt my jaw drop. I started to laugh, and decidedly started to run as fast as I could after Dray. He kept turning his head around to see where I was. I could tell he was laughing as his long legs carried him away. **

** "You can run faster than that, Plum! You're making it too easy to beat you," Dray called, looking over his shoulder. He couldn't see where he was going, and his feet had started to veer off the path, heading directly for a large pine tree. I called back to him,**

** "Dray, watch out! You're going to-" and, WHAM! Dray smacked into the tree with full force, thrusting him to the forest floor. I laughed out loud, and sped up so I could pass him while he was still down.**

** I kept on running for a few metres, and after a bit, I turned around to see where Dray was. He wasn't on the path. My feet came to a halt, and I craned my neck, trying to see if I could catch a glimpse of him. I couldn't see him hiding behind any close trees, so I jogged back to where he had hit the tree.**

** Dray was lying face down on the ground. I stopped by his head, looking down at the mess of black hair obscuring his face.**

** "Dray?" I asked hesitantly.**

** As soon as I said it, Dray sprang up, and started running down the path again. It took me a second to process what had just happened, but I quickly caught up to Dray on the path. He was laughing.**

** "You son of a bludger!" I spat at him, trying not to smile. Dray laughed harder at me.**

**"Oh, I'm going to beat you," I said, confidently, turning my head forward, trying to gain speed.**

** "Uh-uh, not on my watch, you're not," Dray said to me. I turned back to look at him, and at that moment he leapt on me, bringing me down to the ground. He rolled off me, laughing again. I desperately tried to sit up, but my world was spinning around me; I couldn't tell which way was up or down.**

** Dray came over, and sat on top of me. He looked down at me, lying on the path, grinning that grin.**

** "I won," he declared proudly.**

** "Not yet, you didn't," I said, thrashing around, trying to get him off. Dray laughed, and put his hands on my shoulders, pinning me down.**

** "Yes, yet," he responded. **

** And then, he bent down to my face and kissed me.**

** He kissed me gently, tenderly. I had been expecting force on his lips, but it was soft and long. His hands moved to my cheeks, and he held my face to his as he kissed my lips. Gently. Tenderly.**

** I didn't protest. It felt good. My head, which had still been pounding from my hangover minutes ago, started to feel tingly and light. I parted my lips against his, and braced his lower lip.**

** We stayed like this for a while. But, eventually, Dray drew his head back, and he rolled off me, resting by my side in the dust. He let out a long sigh. I could feel myself smiling.**

** "Damn," Dray said quietly, "now I sort of wish I'd brought a pack of cigs. It'd make me calm down a bit." I looked at his face in the dust. He was looking towards the sky, his brow furrowed, but an unmistakable smile on his lips. The long, black hair that normally surrounded his face was flopped backwards, controlled by gravity.**

** "Dray," I said softly. He turned to look at me.**

** "Yeah?"**

** "I kissed somebody else. Last night," I admitted, looking away as I said it. "Well, it was a little more than a kiss. And, well, right now, I've become a little confused." **

** After a while, Dray let out a breath threw his nose. He got up, and brushed himself off. I looked up at him. Surprisingly, he was smiling.**

** "Well," he said, staring back at me, "I guess I'll just have to prove I'm better than that prat, won't I? I can never say no to a challenge," and with that, Dray started to walk back down the path.**


	9. Chapter 9

_maddox._

_The_ _weather had gotten progressively worse as the day went on. Around lunch, the sky started to pour rain. I watched the drops hit the windows of the Defense Against the Dark Arts room as the class waited for our teacher to arrive._

_ "You alright, Maddox?" Dray asked, waving his hand in front of my face. I turned to him._

_ "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm great, I guess. Just looking out the window. . ." _

_ "Uhuh," Dray looked at me, frowning. I rolled my eyes._

_ "When do you think the teacher is going to get here?" I asked him, looking back at the windows._

_ "'Dunno. Don't really care," Dray said as he put his feet up on the desk, "Do you realize how much homework we've got? It's madness! I thought the chaos stopped after 5th year. I've already got to practice a charm, write an essay on the Elixer of Life, some ridiculous book I've got to read for Trelawney, and I don't even KNOW what I've got for Care of Magical Creatures."_

_ "Yeah, school's funny that way. How we always get homework and stuff."_

_ "Shut up."_

_ I was about to retort when I heard the slamming of a door. Sharp footsteps followed, and I looked behind me to see Professor Umbridge, the newest DADA teacher. She smiled sweetly at me and the other students. It made me feel like a baby in a stroller._

_ "Good afternoon, class," Umbridge said as she reached her desk. A few students mumbled an 'Afternoon' in response as all of us took out our books and wands. _

_"What was that?" Umbridge asked us, still smiling._

_ "Good Afternoon," every student deadpanned back to her._

_ "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Did you mean to say, 'Good Afternoon, Professor Umbridge'?" Umbridge asked us, the smile still frozen on her face._

_ "Good Afternoon, Professor Umbridge," everyone said, except for Dray, who had decided to start picking a piece of gum off his shoe._

_ "That's more like it," Umbridge confirmed, her smile becoming even wider. "Wands away, books out, please," she said, sitting down at her desk. Dutifully, I put my wand away, and opened my book to the first page. Most students found book lessons extremely boring; I, however, liked reading. It gave the room a good period of silence. _

_"Open to page Ten, please, and read until you reach the bottom of page Fifteen," Umbridge said._

_ Flipping to page 10, I started to read. The text was quite easy to understand. It was simply an introduction to the Chapter, what we'd be learning that year, etcetera, etcetera._

_ "Excuse me," I heard from my left. I looked up from my book to see Professor Umbridge smiling an overly-sweet smile at Dray, who in turn looked quite annoyed._

_"Why haven't you opened your textbook?" Professor Umbridge asked Dray, indicating his unopened book which was currently being used as Dray's footrest on the table. _

_ "What? Oh, yeah. I decided I'd just wait until we all discussed it in class, that way it'd save me from being bored. Why?" Dray responded matter-of-factly. There were moments when I admired Dray for his honesty, while simultaneously fighting the urge to hit him._

_ "What is your name, dear?" Umbridge asked, still smiling._

_ "Dray," Dray responded._

_ "Excuse me?"_

_ "Dray. That. Is. My. Name," Dray said, looking Umbridge right in the eyes, and speaking as if he was explaining something to a toddler. I sucked in air; Dray had plunged into the abyss of doom. There was no way of avoiding punishment now._

_ "No," Umbridge responded sweetly. I looked up at her, surprised. I had been expecting screaming and chastising. Not a 'No'. _

_"A dray is a device that carries alcohol, not a name," Umbridge explained to him._

_ "I don't know, that sounds an awful lot like me," Dray joked, smiling around the classroom. A few fellow Slytherins smiled, but many had the sense to not even look him in the eye._

_ "What is your real name, Dear," Umbridge repeated herself, this time with a little more force._

_ "It's Jesus," Dray said, sarcastically. Umbridge stared at him in silence. Dray stared right back. I had the feeling Umbridge was going to reach out and grab Dray by the neck. 'But, of course Dray wouldn't care. He doesn't care as long as he doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to do,' I thought to myself. I looked at Umbridge, praying she wouldn't do anything to tempt him more._

_ "Please take your feet off of your desk. And also, please open your textbook and read the assigned pages. That is, unless you would like a detention," Umbridge finally said, giggling to herself. Dray glared at the back of her head, dragging his long legs off the table, and thrusting open the book. _

_ I sighed, and went back to my own reading. _

_. . ._

_ "What were you thinking?" _

_ "She was asking for it! She doesn't have the right to treat me like a child!" Dray shouted at me, pointing back to the DADA room as we walked down the enchanted staircase. _

_ "But you don't have the right to talk back to a teacher!" I shouted right back at him. A group of passing first years stopped their conversation and turned to look at me and Dray._

_ "Oh, come on, Maddox, don't be like this! You KNOW she's from the Ministry, you KNOW the way she talks to us. Don't you just want to get up in her face and scream?" Dray said, blocking my path down the stairs._

_ "No. No, I don't," I replied honestly, "I don't like Umbridge at all, but that doesn't mean I have to make her not like me. It'd be better for you if you kept a low profile around her. No good could ever come out of screaming in Umbridge's face."_

_ "Yeah, that's what you think," Dray muttered, turning around and hurrying down the staircase, leaving me by myself._

_ "Excellent," I said to myself, "Now he's angry at me. Just great." _

_ "You bet your Bludger, I'm angry at you!" I heard from my right, "Come over here and fight like a REAL man!" Sir Cadugon said to me from a nearby painting. I rolled my eyes and kept walking ignoring the, "Fight! Get over here and FIGHT!" that followed me._

_. . ._

_ "Thank Merlin, I'm starved," Rocco declaired as dinner appeared on the Great Hall's tables. I looked down glumly at the steak stu on my plate. _

_"What's wrong?" Rocco asked me through a mouth of meat. I looked up and saw he was staring at me._

_ "Why do people keep asking me that?" I said aloud. A few people at the table turned to look at me. _

_"Sorry," I muttered to them, and proceeded to look back down at my dinner. "I'm fine, I guess. Dray's just a bit angry at me, because he got in a fight with the new Defense teacher, and I-"_

_ "Did he get a detention?" Rocco interrupted me. "That's what happened to Potter. He blew up in her face, started spewing out all this information about You-Know-Who, and that Diggory prat. He got detention for the rest of the week. You shoulda been there, it was fantastic."_

_ "Anyways," I said, glaring at Rocco, who had gone back to forcing stu down his throat, "No, Dray didn't get a detention, but he came very close to it. He's mad at me because I said that he should have just laid low, and ignored Umbridge."_

_ "Well, you know Dray," Rocco contemplated. I shrugged, and started to eat my dinner._

_ "Em, excuse me," I glanced up to see a tiny Gryffindor girl behind us. She was looking at Rocco, completely ignoring me, so I went back to my meal._

_"I was just wondering if you wanted my owl code. You said you would get it last night, but I guess you forgot," the girl went on, smiling innocently at Rocco._

_ "Oh. Yeah, right. So I can send you mail. And stuff. . ." Rocco dropped off, looking back at the girl. He had what I liked to call, his 'game face' on. Whenever Rocco was flirting, he would immediately change his facial expression, giving him more of a swag to his relaxed look. I tried hard not to grin; the 'game face' was normally reserved for girls he would talk to once or twice, make out with once, and then ignore for the rest of the year. _

_ "Yes, well, I wrote it down for you," the girl took a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him._

_ "Right. Well. See you later," Rocco went back to his dinner. The girl looked a little surprised, and more or less disappointed, but she left the table._

_ "How many girls did you talk to last night?" I asked Rocco._

_ "I have absolutely no idea. I mean, I was drumming most of the time, but they kept coming up to me. Not that that's a problem," he added, nudging me. "How 'bout you? You see anybody particularly good?" I shrugged._

_ "Not really. I mean, I talked to Bambi most of the time. She introduced me to her friend, Trenna. She kind of ignored me, though."_

_ "Yeah, well, Bambi's not exactly the kind of girl to set your eyes on," Rocco admitted. I looked at him._

_ "That's not true. Bambi's nice," I said, trying to think of reasons to defend her case._

_ "Yeah, Bambi's very nice. But she's-" here, Rocco indicated with his hands a large stomach._

_ "What's wrong with that?" I asked, frowning. Rocco snorted._

_ "Maddox, I know you've got this whole equality thing going for you, but that sort of figure doesn't normally fall into the 'beauty' category."_

_ "Yeah, for insensitive people like you," I retorted. Rocco opened his mouth to respond, but I lifted my hand up. "Just leave it," I told him, and I went back to eating. _


	10. Chapter 10

**bambi.**

** A month had passed since the first day of school. Homework loads piled up, no matter how much students tried to control it. I had been studying with Plum as much as I could, but Plum had a very tight schedule, between going to class and snogging George Weasley. Times when she wasn't available, I would hunt down Maddox and the others to be with.**

** "Have you found out when the first Hogsmead trip is?" Rocco asked Leo. We were all lounging around an abandoned classroom during lunch. Leo was throwing a bludger to Dray, who would throw it back. Rocco had his feet up on the teacher's desk, and was smoking probably his twelfth cigarette that day. Maddox and I were on the ground as he attempted to teach me Defense Against the Dark Arts. **

** Leo shrugged. "Dunno. They'll announce it a few days in advance, they always do."**

** "It's getting a bit late into the year, tho," Rocco contemplated, "I mean, we normally have one- what? Once a month, at least." **

** "Argh," I grumbled, staring at the DADA textbook, "This is worthless. He's not even explaining how to DO the spell! This half-brained author WANTS me to fail my OWLs!"**

** "That's not true," Maddox assured me, " I know how to perform this spell, I learned it last year. And it's not the authors fault. This book is supposed to be for reference only, it was never supposed to be a textbook, I'm sure of it, I found a copy of it under Reference in the library. It's Umbridge's fault for assigning it to us."**

** "Have any of you actually done any magic in her class?" Rocco asked us. I shook my head.**

** "No. She sits us down and makes us read the textbook. I'm in your class, Rocco," I reminded him. Rocco grinned.**

** "Oh, yeah, I forgot. Sorry, I'm just not very attentive then. That book puts my brain to sleep."**

** "She's awful. Absolutely awful," Dray affirmed, chucking the bludger back to Leo. "I know I insult a lot of teachers, but this time I mean it. She makes Professor Binns seem like Santa Claus. She doesn't teach us anything, she treats me like a baby" -here, Dray punted the bludger with particular force- "we have to read this bloody textbook, and NONE of the other teachers are doing anything about it. **

** "And do you know what's really sad?" Dray turned around to look at us. I shook my head, staring avidly at him. Dray thrust his thumb, pointing at his face. "I was actually looking forward to DADA this year. Yeah. **I **was actually forward to a class, where I would learn stuff, and practice spells, and maybe even have fun. And now that I'm here, I'm not learning anything, we can't do magic in class" -Dray was shouting now- "And I have to sit like a good little boy while that cow sits in front of us, smiling like a sicko because she knows she's brainwashing every single student! It's madness!" Dray stamped his foot, and then looked a bit embarrassed for it. Everybody was looking at Dray, nobody speaking. And then-**

** "That's EXACTLY what we need," I heard from behind me. I turned around and saw Hermione Granger, the Prefect, standing in the doorway, beaming at Dray. **

** "Who the hell are you?" Dray asked her.**

** "Oh. Um, I'm-uh- Hermione," she said awkwardly. We all stared at her. **

**"Look," Hermione continued, "There's a Hogsmead trip this Saturday. A bunch of kids are meeting at the Hog's Head to discuss-well," Hermione crept closer to us, looking around as if someone might be watching her, "To discuss learning actual defense. You know, by a proper teacher, instead of that woman. You can all come if you like."**

** "I'd love to," Maddox said quietly. Hermione smiled at him, and looked at the rest of us encouragingly.**

** "I don't know," I said slowly, "I mean, I'm not saying that I like Umbridge, I hate her. But, well, what if you get caught? I got stuck with the brains in the family, my parents are looking at me to get a proper job when I'm older. I just. I'll have think about it," I managed to say. **

** "I don't care about Defense. That's what grownups are for, responsibility and defending us weaklings," Rocco offered his sarcastic opinion, dragging on his cigarette. **

** "But that's the problem," Hermione protested, "the adults AREN'T taking responsibility. It's up to us." **

** "I know that I just went out on a long rant about how I was looking forward to learning DADA this year," Dray cut in, "But, I don't want to be part of some stupid study club. I've got things to do, music to make. Unless this Defense group is planning on killing Umbridge in her sleep, I'm going to have to say no." **

** "Sorry," I muttered to Hermione, who looked crestfallen. "It's a good idea," I added quickly, "It's just that, well, I guess not all of us are that into it. Maddox can always tell us about it, though. We might change our minds. . ." I trailed off.**

** "Well, then what do you people plan to do about Umbridge? Are you just going to sit there like 'good little boys'?" Hermione demanded of us. **

** "I could make her life hell if I wanted to," Dray threatened.**

** "And what good would that do?" Hermione snapped back.**

** "It'd make me feel a whole lot better. And it'd be funny. And entertaining. And it would piss off Umbridge. And probably the Ministry," Dray grinned as he said this. Hermione rolled her eyes.**

** "Well, I hope to see you at the meeting," she said to Maddox, and with that she stalked out of the room.**

rocco.

"You want a chocolate frog? They were 70% off at the sweet shop, I've got a ton," Dray asked me through a mouth-full of frog. I was with Dray in Slytherin Common Room, trying to get some homework done.

"For the fiftieth time, no. Why'd you blow all your money on chocolate?" I said as I flipped through my Charms textbook. Dray shrugged.

"Dunno. What else is there to spend it on?"

"Ci-"

"DON'T- say cigarettes," Dray cut me off. I smiled.

"Well, it's something. And you could have gotten new strings for Otto, his old ones are wearing through."

"Again? We changed his strings at the beginning of the year! I swear, the way he plays bass-"

"Masks the way the rest of us play our instruments," I finished Dray's sentence. Dray was silent for a few seconds.

"Otto's gonna need new strings," he admitted under his breath. I nodded.

Suddenly, the room grew very noisy. The few students who were in the room had all put down their homework and gathered around the News Bulletin.

"Oi, could you keep it down?" Dray shouted over the clamor.

"Have you seen this? Somebody just posted it!" Blase Zabini called back to Dray, beckoning for him to join the crowd. Dray hoisted himself out of the armchair and walked over to the bulletin; I followed suit.

On the wall was a huge poster that covered all other notices. In big, black letters it said:

EDUCATIONAL DECREE #24

ALL SCHOOL CLUBS, ORGANIZATIONS, OR TEAMS

ARE HEREBY DISBANDED, UNLESS GIVEN

APPROVAL BY HOGWARTS HIGH INQUISITOR-

DELORES JANE UMBRIDGE.

"Why?" Dray asked to no one in particular.

"Maybe she doesn't like Quidditch," Zabini offered. I shook my head, frowning.

"No, Dray, do you remember what happened last Thursday? Why Maddox didn't come with us to Hogs-"

"She couldn't have found out about that. It's ridiculous. Nobody goes to that pub!" Dray confided to me. Zabini was looking at the two of us as if we had gone mad.

"Well, let's go ask Maddox," I said. Dray nodded, and we rushed out of Slytherin Common Room.

The Hufflepuff Common Room wasn't too far from Slytherin's. Most Slytherins knew how to get into Hufflepuff Common Room, and vice versa. This was good for Dray, Maddox, and I, but for less popular Hufflepuffs(not that we were popular, but-well, for a Hufflepuff), the Common Room was usually covered in Toilet Paper and swamp water from the usual Slytherin prank.

The Common Room was currently clean when Dray and I rushed in, however. Maddox was sitting on a couch, talking to Bambi when we saw him.

"What's wrong?" he asked us when we approached.

"Did anything go wrong during your, eh, meeting?" I asked him, ignoring his question. Maddox frowned and shook his head.

"No, it went very well. We're going to meet again soon. Why?"

"'Cause all clubs, teams, whatever aren't allowed to meet anymore. Unless you wanna go tell Umbridge that you're teaching students magic behind her back and hope she'll give you permission to keep the club," Dray informed Maddox. Maddox's jaw dropped.

"All clubs and teams not allowed to meet? She can't possibly do that. Can she?" Bambi said, her eyes quivering with excitement. I shrugged.

"She already has. I think it includes Quidditch and Chorus, too." I said looking at my shoes.

And then it hit me.

"And bands." I looked at Dray.

"No," Dray said to me, "No. Definitely not," He shook his head, but underneath his dark hair, Dray's face expressed his panic.

"I'm going to find Ernie," Maddox said, leaping off the couch, "Maybe he knows something."

"What should we do?" I asked Dray after Maddox had left, Bambi following.

"Round up Otto and Johnny, head to Umbridge's office," Dray concluded.

. . .

A long line of students had formed outside of Umbridge's office door. They would disappear into her office for no more than 5 minutes, and would either come out looking quite pleased with themselves or fuming. Once we had reached the front of the queue, our band waited for our turn. Otto was humming a tune to himself, tapping his foot and examining the woodwork of Umbridge's office door. Johnny looked quite content as he leaned against the wall, scratching his Roman-hooked nose while blowing at a piece of his unkempt, light brown hair. Dray was pacing up and down the hall, muttering to himself. I just wished I had a cigarette.

Finally the door opened, and Angelina Johnson, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain stepped out.

"Good luck," she muttered to me as she passed.

"Thanks," I said to her, and followed Johnny into Umbridge's room. She was sitting at her desk, writing on a piece of pink parchment. I looked around the room and tried to hide my disgust; everything had been draped in doilies, and tea plates depicting multi-colored kittens adorned the walls.

"Reminds me of my Auntie's," Otto whispered to me.

"Sit down, sit down," Umbridge said to us, and the band took a seat on an uncomfortable flower-printed sofa. I'm sure we all looked quite out of place in the room. Umbridge stared at us expectantly, her pudgy hands clasped on top of her desk.

"Oh, right," Johnny said suddenly, looking away from Umbridge's collection of porcelain dolls. Before we headed to Umbridge's, we had all decided that Johnny would do the negotiating; he was an expert at sweet-talking, and he had a sort of charismatic, self-assured way and look. Otto would have definitely gotten us rejected if he talked because he would have most likely bribed and/or blackmailed Umbridge if it was up to him. Dray was aware that he and Umbridge weren't on good terms, and as for me- I just wasn't good with confrontation.

"We," Johnny indicated the band, "were wondering if the Decree applied to bands as well. We've been playing music together since our Second Year. All of the teachers know that we're a band, and they've given us regulations about appropriate places to play music, and how loud we're allowed to play, and everything. So, we're not really jeopardizing anyone's grades or lives, or anything," Johnny said, trying to genuinely smile at Umbridge. Umbridge smiled back at him, and said,

"Oh, yes, the Decree most definitely applies to 'Rock bands'. Tell me, what sort of venues do you play?"

"Um," here, Johnny was at a loss of what to say. He looked desperately at us. Otto was about to speak, but I cut in before he could speak the wrong answer.

"Honestly, we don't really get gigs that much. We've played in Hogsmead a few times, and we performed at the Yule Ball last year, sometimes we'll have a show in the Court Yard for New Years. . . stuff like that," I told Umbridge.

"What were you going to say, Manning?" she asked Otto.

"Nothing. Just what Rocco said," Otto said quickly, and fortunately.

"Uhuh," Umbridge said, uninterested. "Well, I see no reason as to why this little 'band' has to continue. It obviously has no, or negative, effect on your academic achievements, and it's not healthy to you or the other students encouraging the 'rock and roll' element. That will be all," Umbridge said to us, and went back to writing on her parchment. My eyes popped. Johnny had his head in his hands, and Otto's face was slowly turning a nasty shade of red.

"What?" Dray asked her. Umbridge looked surprisingly at Dray.

"I will repeat myself; you are not allowed to continue the arrangement of your musical group. Is there anything that I haven't made clear?" she asked expectantly.

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT YOU HAVEN'T MADE CLEA-"Otto started, but Johnny got his hand over Otto's mouth in the nick of time.

"Thank you. We'll be leaving now," I said, and I hurried to get the door so Johnny could rush Otto out before it was too late. Dray remained stagnant on the couch, staring at Umbridge with wide eyes.

"Dray," I called to him, "let's go." Dray stayed where he was.

"Dray," I said again, this time with more force.

"Mr. Dark, please remove yourself of my office. As you can see I have many more students to meet with," Umbridge said smoothly to Dray. It took Dray a moment, but he silently stood up, and walked out of the door. I followed him out, and made sure to slam the door behind me.

. . .

"THIS. IS. ABSOLUTE. SNITCH!" Dray flipped over another desk with each word. I watched him tear apart the room from where I had my head against the wall of the classroom. Otto was banging his left fist against the chalkboard while his right hand wrote furiously with a stub of chalk.

"Disembowel doesn't rhyme with shovel," Johnny said calmly to Otto, "Try howl, or growl. Or fowl," he suggested.

"WHO CARES? ONCE YOU'RE DONE WRITING THE BLOODY SONG THERE WON'T BE ANYONE TO PERFORM IT!" Dray barked at Johnny. Johnny's blue eyes sank.

"Oh. Right. Damnit," he said with realization, and he kicked the wall softly.

"I don't see why we have to do what she says," I said to myself, "It's not as if she'll do anything particularly bad to us if she finds out."

"The Decree says we'd get expelled," Otto said, throwing his chalk, "Not that I'd particularly mind now that this school's turned into a hell hole." He ran his fingers through his short bleached hair, and then slammed his fist back into the blackboard.

"I want to kill her. I should kill her. I am going to kill her. Tonight. I just need your lighter, Rocco," Dray said, pacing again.

"Don't, Dray," Johnny said, "You can't, and you know it. You're just getting yourself worked up over nothing. It's over. She's shut us down. All we can do now is retreat."

"Filch no," Dray suddenly stopped pacing. Johnny turned to look at him. "I'm not retreating. That's what she wants us to do. No, I'm not going to do that. I'm marching on!" Dray declared. Otto had stopped punching the board, and was looking at Dray curiously.

"Are you going to join the Defense thing?" I asked him. I alone had not shifted my position. Dray shook his head.

"That would be productive. I'm not feeling productive, I'm feeling pissed off. I am going to do what I said I would do." Dray stated.

"For Merlin's sake, you CAN'T kill her," Johnny groaned.

"I'm not going to kill her," Dray shot back snidely. "I'm going to make her life pure hell. Who's in?"

"Me," Otto said, leaping over the teacher's desk towards Dray. Johnny shrugged.

"Whatever. I'll feed some flames," he said nonchalantly.

"Rocco?" Dray turned an expectant face towards me. After a second, I smiled.

"I know just where to start."


	11. Chapter 11

dray.

"That's my cap you're wearing!" I shouted at Otto as I snagged the black beanie off his head.

"Yeah, well, I ain't got one," Otto snatched the beanie back. "Besides, your hair's black anyways. You could see my hair from a mile away."

"Quiet down. Okay," Johnny interrupted as he tied his shoes, "So, we can get into her room from the back entrance, right?"

"Which is through the Charms room," Rocco added.

"Right. And then we've got about four minutes to grab whatever we can and get out," I finished.

"That's the plan. And if we run into anybody-"

"We knock them out."

"No," Johnny corrected me, "This is different from knocking someone out." He lifted a rag from the liquid it had been soaking in, and carefully placed it inside a zip-lock bag. "It's a sleep-inducing drought."

"Sounds like knocking out to me," I muttered. Johnny punched me in the arm.

"Ready?" Rocco asked us.

"Ready," the three of us responded.

Carefully, Rocco eased open the door of Hufflepuff Common Room. He peered around the corner for a second, and then opened the door wider so all of us could tiptoe out.

Once out, we ran through the Dungeon hallways, and up the staircase into the Main Entrance. From there, we made our way up the Marble Staircase, and quickly made a beeline for the Enchanted Staircase. The staircase was just about to move as we reached it. Otto made it before the rest of us, and Johnny and Rocco weren't far behind. I had to check for Filch before I could get on(that was the plan), so I barely had time to leap onto the staircase before it moved too far away.

"Nice one," Otto whispered to me as I barely landed on the first step.

Two stair shifts later, we were on our way up the stairs to the Charms room. From there we would go through the closet into the secret entrance to the DADA boarding room.

Rocco made it to the door first. Just as he was about to take out his wand for the 'Alohamora', he stopped. As I reached him, a smiled started to creep apon his face. He looked at the rest of us with wide eyes, and signaled us to be quiet.

"What?" I mouthed to him. Rocco grinned and pointed at the door. Johnny cupped his hand to his ear, and pressed against the door.

"Holy snitch, someone's having a go in the Charms Room!" he whispered frantically, a wide smile playing his face.

I followed Johnny's actions, and listened as hard as I could. Sure enough, noise was coming from the other side of the door. Otto had started laughing silently while Rocco tried to get a look through the key hole.

"I wonder who it is," I said softly, listening as hard as I could.

"Sshh, I think they're talking now," Johnny said, still smiling.

"Do you think we could go back to your room?" I heard, muffled but clear enough, a girl's voice from the other side of the door.

"Em," another person said, this one definitely a male, "Not tonight. Some other time."

"Oooo, someone's getting turned down," Rocco sneered.

"SH!" Johnny silenced him.

"Why not?" the girl protested, "We've been seeing each other like this for a month. How long can you avoid it for?" Otto was trying hard not to make a noise by laughing into his sweatshirt.

"I'm not avoiding it!" the boy said quickly, "That's not it. It's just-" here he paused, "well, I've been testing one of the products."

"What's it been doing to you?" I felt myself frown, and I pressed my ear closer to the door.

"It's, er, sort of been giving me boils. In that area. I'll stop testing it, I promise, I'll make Fred take this one by himself. It should all be sorted out by next week." By this point, Otto was barely able to breathe, and Johnny was trying very hard not to laugh himself. I had started to chuckle softly, when footsteps started heading towards the door.

"I hope so. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then-"

A wind suddenly passed by my ear, and I fell to the ground as the door opened from the inside. I heard an intake of breath, and a 'What the hell?' before I knew what had happened.

I looked up, and saw Plum staring frantically down at me. I gaped.

"What are you doing?" she hissed at us. Otto was still laughing on the ground as Johnny and I stood up.

"Nothing, we swear," Rocco whispered, "we didn't even know people were in here. Promise!" he added as a boy appeared by Plum's side. He frowned at us from underneath his long, red hair.

"What are you people doing then?" he asked us, staring at our black clothing, "Robbing Flitwick?"

"Just playing a harmless prank," Johnny whispered cheerfully. Otto nodded as he attempted to stand up, still laughing. A bile had risen in my throat. I was still looking at Plum, unable to stare at this other boy. "Oh. Carry on, then," the boy responded, and he made a move to get around me, "C'mon, Plum, let's go. 'Scuse me," he said to Plum and then me. I refused to move, but the boy made it around me all the same. Plum followed suit.

"See you later, Dray," she murmured as she passed. I looked away, unable to speak.

The band rushed into the classroom, and felt along the wall until they found the closet.

"Dray, we gotta move!" Otto spoke softly to me, "Close the door, and get moving!" I closed the classroom door and walked over to the closet.

"Got it," Rocco muttered, and he pressed a brick into the back wall of the closet. The back popped away from us, and moved to the left, leaving a clear view of Umbridge's closet.

"Go, go, go!" Johnny hissed, and he and Rocco raced out of the closet and into Umbridge's room. Otto started grabbing at random things in the closet and throwing them behind him. I walked out of the closet slowly, my hands in my pockets.

"Here," Johnny said, thrusting a vase at my chest as soon as I came in sight. I held the vase as I watched Rocco mutter a spell. As soon as he spoke, a stream of red spray paint issued from the tip of his wand.

"Dray, help me out!" he whispered to me. I glumly took out my wand and muttered,

"Pingere." Blue spray paint shot out of my wand. I walked around the dark room, waving my wand at the walls, floor, and ceiling, until I came full circle back to the closet. By that point, Otto had gotten most of the things that had occupied it. I walked back into the Charms classroom. Johnny was helping Otto stuff their findings into the bags we had brought. As soon as Rocco was done, he rushed out of the closet, shutting the door behind him. We all hurried out of the classroom, and as soon as we were in the hall, we walked to the last destination.

"It's all downhill from here," Johnny muttered reassuringly to himself. Otto nodded, and started to hum again.

"I wonder why she likes him?" I asked out loud. Rocco frowned at me.

"What? Plum? Does it really matter? Besides, Plum doesn't seem like the kind of girl to settle for one guy. I'm sure she's just in it for the sex." I snorted at Rocco's words.

"What does it matter to you?" he asked me again. I shook my head.

"It doesn't. Was just thinking," I said under my breath.

"She had a nice arse, that one," Otto said jokingly, grinning.

"Yeah. Good view from the floor, too," Johnny played along, "If only she had been wearing a skirt-"

I punched him in the arm as Johnny started to laugh.

"That makes us even," I whispered to him. Just then, we approached the door of the DADA classroom.

"Okay, get the stuff out," Rocco said, and he started to unzip one of the bags. I helped unload the vases, lamps, dolls, plates, and photos that Otto and Johnny had salvaged. Otto laid the items carefully on the doorstep. Rocco then handed Johnny and I hammers.

"Tools at the ready," Rocco said as if he was leading a firing squad, "And- smash!"

I took one look at the purple kittens wrestling on of the plates, and brought my hammer down hard.


	12. Chapter 12

**leo.**

** "Just a reminder to all students, if and when we find the person who vandalized Professor Umbridge's property, we plan on expelling them and all possible cohorts. That is all. Carry on," Professor McGonagall sat down, and the Great Hall burst back into life with the excitement of the first Quidditch game being the only thing people could talk about.**

** "I cannot believe you did it," I whispered to Dray, grinning as he bit into piece of toast. I had snuck over to the Slytherin table to talk with him and Otto.**

** "Can you not talk about that? If you haven't realized, we're in the middle of the Great Hall, thank you very much," Dray retorted. **

** "Yeah, I know, I know,"I grumbled, "But I still can't believe you did it!" Dray rolled his eyes as I rambled on. **

**"What if you get caught? Aren't you scared? Your mum'll have a right cow if she finds out."**

** "They're never going to find anything," Dray said passively, "I'm in no danger. As long as Potter's group"-Dray's voice dropped to a whisper here- "is still hanging around, we're number 2 in the suspects list. C'mon, let's go find the others. I want to get good seats before the stadium fills up," Dray stood up.**

**. . .**

**"I can't believe you did it!" Maddox said to Dray as he, Dray, Rocco, and I made our way down to the Quidditch pitch. "Are you insane? Did you even wear gloves, or anything? MUGGLES can use fingerprints to number down suspects, just think of what WIZARDS can do with them! You will be expelled," Maddox shoved each syllable at Dray with tremendous force.**

** "Let's not talk about that, please," Dray said, annoyed. "What team are you Huffles routing for?" he asked of Rocco, ignoring Maddox, who was clearly not done ranting.**

** "Oh, c'mon, Slytherin doesn't stand a chance!" I argued with Dray.**

** "Yeah, they don't!" I heard from behind. I turned around to see Plum and Bambi making their way towards us. Plum was sporting a Gryffindor scarf.**

** "Bollocks. We've got two new Beaters this year, they're practically trolls. Gryffindor's team is going to have the Hospital Wing booked for the rest of the year," Dray said, grinning, shoving me back. **

** "Yeah, but Gryffindor's not only got Beaters, but actually good players. We don't just enlist the richest members of our house, see," I shot back, "Although, the team would be significantly better if **_**I **_**were on the pitch," I smiled smugly.**

** "Do you play?" Bambi asked me as the group took turns getting on the steep stairway to the Stadium seats.**

** "You're looking at Hogwart's finest beater," I told Bambi.**

** "Back up- Beater," Rocco corrected me from farther up the steps. **

** "Yeah, well," I smirked, "I'm working on that."**

** "Plum, are you going to sit with us, or go find George?" Bambi changed the conversation, "Oop- sorry, Dray, didn't mean to run into you." Dray mumbled an apology, and resumed making his way up the stairs from where he had stopped.**

** "No, I can't sit with George, so I'm just gonna join you guys. Nothing like catching up with old friends," Plum smiled.**

** "Why? You're not cool enough to sit with George and his friends?" Dray said rather moodily.**

** "No," Plum's smile fell, "actually, George is a bit too busy being a Beater for Gryffindor team at the moment."-she turned around and grinned widely at me. I glared back. "Now, can we talk about something other than George?" **

** "Yes, let's," I agreed as I directed the group into a row of seats. **

** "Hows the- eh- group going, Maddox?" Bambi asked when everyone had sat down.**

** "Alright. It's been a lot of fun actually. And nobody's really suspected us of anything- well, until now," Maddox looked over Bambi to where Dray was slouched along his seat, picking at a hole in his jeans.**

** "Shut up, Maddox. You know I didn't mean to get your little play group in any trouble. It was all in good fun."**

** "Dray, I've always respected you and appreciated your character, but I also always thought you'd h-"**

** "Obviously you didn't hear me when I said shut up."**

** "What are you talking about?" Bambi asked curiously, looking from Maddox to Dray repeatedly.**

** "You know how Umbridge's really upset because somebody smashed her favorite China doll?" Rocco said to Bambi, his eyes sparkling underneath his frenzy of dirty blond hair. Bambi took a sudden intake of breath, her eyes wide.**

** "You two didn't- no!" she said as Rocco nodded, grinning widely. "I can't believe it! Oh, my lord. That's hilarious! Never even thought of it, , too?" she asked, looking at me.**

** "What? No," I said, astonished, "No, it was those two"- I indicated Dray and Rocco- "Otto, and Johnny. I wish I'd done it, though. You people are going to have to send me a memo for next time," I said patting Dray on the shoulder.**

** "Is Otto the one with the eyebrow piercing, and Johnny the one with the stubble?"Plum asked Rocco. Rocco nodded.**

** "You knew about this?" Bambi asked Plum.**

** "Well, I wasn't supposed to, but things have a funny way of turning up," Plum looked at Dray and Rocco as she said this.**

** "And you didn't invite me?" Bambi asked, her expression hurt. Plum gaped at her.**

** "Wait, wait, you're not really getting it," Plum said hastily, putting her hand on Bambi's shoulder, "I'm not in this 'rebel thing',"- she indicated us- "No, I found out by accident."**

** "Oh," Bambi said, now looking a little crestfallen.**

** "You want to join us next time, Bambi?" Dray asked her, smiling, "The more the merrier."**

** "I'd love to," Bambi responded, "I know I wasn't up for the Defense thing, but this sounds like one hell of a good time. Just tell me when and where, I'll be there," Bambi ended with a sing-song voice.**

** "You're willing to do this, but not defense?" Maddox asked, looking at Bambi curiously, "Why is that?" Bambi shrugged.**

** "I don't know. Maybe 'cause it's I'm not really into DADA, maybe it's 'cause I've always wanted to pull a few school pranks. Either way, I'm in. How 'bout you?"**

** "Maddox doesn't want to join," I said, jokingly, "he's too busy reading textbooks and contemplating the meaning of life as we know it."**

** "Now you're just trying to provoke me," Maddox grinned at me, but then his face fell. " I'm being a prat about the whole thing, I know. But what if you get expelled? I don't want to have to go through my last years of school without you idiots. That'd be way too boring," Maddox admitted quietly, staring at his feet.**

** "Well, think of it this way," Dray leaned in to Maddox, "If you don't jump in, and we're caught, we're going to be expelled. If we're all in this together and get caught, then we're all expelled together. Also, I'm sure we could use a brainiac like you to come up with some really good stunts," Dray was being a suck-up, but I had the faintest sense that it was working. Maddox sighed.**

** "I'll think about it," he mumbled. Dray sat relaxed in his seat.**

** "That's all I needed to hear. You just sleep on it, Maddox, you'll do the right thing in the end." **

** "How about you, Plum?" I asked Plum, who had been quiet the whole time, "Would you want to pull a few pranks?" Plum frowned, biting her lip.**

** "I don't know yet. It's just- I don't really have a reason for upsetting Umbridge yet. I know she's a bitch, I can see that," she added quickly as Dray made a move to speak, "but she hasn't been a bitch to me, personally. Not yet anyways. But carry on with your fun, I won't tell a soul what you're doing," Plum assured us, and she turned her attention to the Quidditch game, which had just begun.**

**. . .**

** The game was going by swimmingly. For Dray. Slytherin team had gotten in every single goal, thanks to the new Gryffindor Keeper. Our Chasers had managed to get in a few goals, but we couldn't compete. And Dray had been right- the new Beaters were practically trolls. I was surprised that their brooms didn't crack in two.**

** But the thing that had made that game special was the singing. Almost every Slytherin I could spot was singing a ludicrous tune about the Keeper, and they were all wearing pins that said, 'Weasley Is Our King'. Weasley was evidently the name of the Keeper, and also of the Plum's Beater.**

** "Did you put them up to this?" Plum asked Dray, trying to hide the anger in her voice, but failing.**

** "What? No, course not," Dray said, trying not to hide his smile, "Why would I give a snitch about the Keeper?"**

** "Just so you know," Plum's voice dropped, but I could still here every word, "George doesn't like to admit that Ron's his brother. You're not getting under his skin," she said menacingly.**

** "I don't know what you're talking about," Dray lied(obviously), "And, like I said, I didn't do a thing. It was Malfoy, the Seeker, who did it. He and his girlfriend were giving out the badges last night in the Common Room. Shame I didn't get one," he taunted. Plum hit him in the arm, and not gently. I laughed out loud, and received a punch in the gut from Dray.**

** "Potter's seen the snitch!" I heard from a student behind me. I looked up immediately, stomach still in pain, to see that, sure enough, Gryffindor's Seeker was racing after the invisible(from my point of view) snitch. **

** "YES!" I belted along with the cheering from other Gryffindor supporters. **

** "It's not over yet!" Dray said just as Malfoy, the Slytherin Seeker, dived down to become neck and neck with Potter.**

** "Don't doubt Harry Potter! He's the best Seeker since. . . since ever!" a second year girl in front of us turned around to confront Dray.**

** "Did I ask for your opinion?" Dray sneered. The girl blushed, and turned around. **

** The two Seekers were very close to the ground now. Both of their hands were reaching into the air in front of them, groping, grasping for the snitch. . . And then Potter shot into the air, raising his fist high, waving the golden ball for all to see.**

** "That is what I am TALKING about! YES!" I shouted, more at Dray than at the crowd. Dray winced, and wiped some of my spit off his face. **

** And then I heard a unanimous 'Ooooh. . .' from everyone around me. Rocco was making that 'Ouch, that HAD to hurt' face, while Bambi had her head in her hands. I looked towards the pitch. Potter was lying on the ground, his broom still hovering feet above him.**

** "What happened?" I asked aloud.**

** "One of the Slytherin Beaters hit a bludger at Potter's head," Plum said, who alone was giggling to herself. I smiled.**

** "He didn't fall that far, did he?" Plum shook her head.**

** "Nah, only a couple a feet. He couldn't 've broken anything." "Okay, good," I said as I started to laugh loudly.**

** "Yeah, see, he's okay," Plum said as Potter stood up, grinning as he started talking to Angelina Johnson, the captain. **

** "All's well that ends well," Maddox said cheerily, and he began to usher us out of the row. **

** "Yeah, well, you wait till NEXT time," Dray warned me as we carefully edged our way along the aisle, "Our team's going to make Potter wee- what's going on now?"**

** I turned to look just as Harry Potter slammed his fist into Draco Malfoy's face. **

** Fred Weasley(or George, who cares?) took advantage of the moment to knock Malfoy to the ground, punching him in the stomach repeatedly.**

** "Is that George?" Bambi asked Plum, who was laughing again.**

** "Yeah, it is. I'm gonna go see what it's about. See you all later," Plum sprinted down the steps towards the pitch, yelling a, "Give it to 'em good, George!" as she went. **

** "That sounds so dirty," Dray said, chuckling to himself.**

** Madame Hooch had intervened, knocking both Potter and George backwards with a charm. She yelled at them for a few seconds, and then pointed towards the castle, indicating where the two were to go immediately.**

** The crowd was in absolute pandemonium. Some were jeering at Potter, or George, or even Madame Hooch. Some hopefuls were still chanting, 'Fight!Fight!Fight!' as Potter and George made their way up to the castle. **

** "C'mon, let's get to the castle soon, I want to see what Mcgonagall gives 'em," Rocco said, shoving Dray and I out of the row. **

**. . .**

** "She's coming," Bambi informed the group as she peered out the hall window of our abandoned classroom. We all turned expectantly to the door. **

** Plum opened the door, stood in the door way looking in for a few seconds, then walked in and slammed the door with all her might. **

** "I'll take that it went badly," Maddox said blatantly as Plum stormed around the classroom, thrusting out a chair, and sitting in it. She crossed her arms and refused to look at the group.**

** "What did Mcgonagall do?" I asked curiously.**

** "Mcgonagall was only going to give them detention," Plum fumed, "But that little toad had to go and make it that much worse," Plum stood up and kicked over the chair.**

** "Oh, come on, we JUST straightened up the room from last time," Rocco groaned, leaning his head against the wall.**

** "She banned them from Quidditch," Plum ranted, ignoring Rocco, "AND she confiscated their brooms."**

** "Oh, well, that's bad, but it's not THAT bad," Dray said optimistically, "from the way you came in here I thought she decided to castrate the pair of them."**

** "No, you don't understand," Plum glared intensely at Dray, "She banned them for life. Life. Umbridge has made it law that George and Harry can never play Quidditch again ever. Ever! Have you ever heard of ANYTHING,"-Plum knocked over the desk as her voice cracked- "so filching absurd!" She stood breathing heavily, staring around the room as if tempting anyone to stand up and say, 'Well, actually, yes, I have heard of something more absurd.'**

** "Oh. Well, that's a bit much, I guess," Dray mumbled grudgingly.**

** "How can she do that? I mean, Umbridge can't be present every time George is around a broom and bludger. Can she?" I asked Plum. **

** "That's part of what makes it so absurd, Leo," Maddox assured me wearily.**

** "Yeah, but, seriously. There's no way of being able to tell. That's like when a six year old says to his friend that his friend's never allowed to have a cookie ever again, but the six year old doesn't know what gonna happen when his friend goes home and his mom's all 'Here, sugar, why don't you h-"**

** "Like we said," Rocco interrupted me, "That's part of what makes it so. absurd."**

** "So," Dray smiled, looking at Plum, "Does this mean that we'll be seeing you tomorrow to discuss the next scene to our 'amazing production'?" he asked theatrically. Plum grinned wildly back at Dray, and said,**

** "Just tell me where we're meeting, and if you want me to bring any props."**


	13. Chapter 13

**plum.**

** "Hey," I felt Dray pull me over as I was walking down the hall. He shoved me into a dark closet and closed the door.**

** "What's goin-" but he stopped me mid-sentence as he pressed his lips to mine. Unlike last time, Dray wasn't as gentle.**

** "Sorry if this is bad timing," he pulled back for a second, grinning his grin, "but this new attitude's got me really turned on." Dray kissed me again, pressing me to the wall. I was having the odd feeling of deja vu, just less drunk on my part.**

** "Well, that 'new attitude'," I restrained him, "was because of George. I don't think your getting the point of me being in a relationship."**

** "Yeah, I don't think you're getting it either," Dray chuckled, and kept kissing me, slowly moving to my neck. I smiled to myself.**

** "Too bad. You can't provide me with all the things George can," I said.**

** "Oh yeah? And what's that," I could tell Dray was looking at me through the darkness, "genital herpes? Are you turned on by boils?"**

** "It's not genital herpes," I muttered, "he's testing a product."**

** "Sounds like it's giving him genital herpes." I rolled my eyes.**

** "What happened to you kissing me?" I said just as I found the back of Dray's head with my hand and thrust his face towards me. Dray didn't object, and he wrapped his arms around my waist. **

** I hated to admit it, but Dray was very sexy. It wasn't because he tried to be sexy, and I wasn't going to tell Dray I thought he was sexy( a- because he'd think that made him a fairy, b- I'm with George), but he was undoubtedly sexy. Dray was tall, and lean, and the way his hair fell over his eyes, the way his lip curled when he smiled. . . I grasped the small of Dray's neck, pushing myself closer to him.**

** "You're just going to have to face it," Dray whispered as his hand made it's way down my thigh, "You can't hide the fact that I'm an English sex god," and he kissed my neck again. I laughed in the dark, and I could feel Dray's lips in a smile against my throat. **

** "How many times have you actually gotten it on with Weasley anyways," Dray muttered, as he brought his cheek to mine. I ran my index finger across his jaw line.**

** "Let's not talk about that now," I whispered. I kissed Dray's jowl, feeling his warmth against my lips.**

** "Let's not talk at all," Dray agreed, and with that he kissed me again, never letting his face leave mine. I didn't object, I didn't think, and I didn't care.**


	14. Chapter 14

rocco.

"Sh! Don't make so much noise!"

"Sorry."

"OUCH!"

"What did I say about making noise?" Maddox hissed into my ear. I glared at him.

"Johnny elbowed me in the face," I shot back, massaging my left temple.

"S'not my fault your head's so big."

"Shut up."

"Quiet!" Plum cut us off, "Somebody could be in the Herbology room, you know. They could hear everything you're saying."

"Probably sounds kinky from up there," Dray snickered from behind me.

"Way kinky," Otto whispered back, then added, "How long is this passage, Maddox? My thighs are on fire bending like this."

"Still kinky," Bambi put in.

The group had been huddled in a passage way underneath the floor of the Herbology Green House #3 for a few minutes now. The passage had started in the Hufflepuff Common Room, and had headed underground to the Herbology greenhouses.

"How did you find out about this passageway again, Johnny?" Maddox asked. My eyes had adjusted to the dim, but I could barely make out Maddox squinting down at a piece of paper through his glasses. "This map is horrible. Well, actually, it's too dark to see if it's horrible or not. Did anybody bring their wand?"

A unanimous "No." echoed around the walls of the passage. Maddox sighed.

"Good to know that we're prepared in case of attack."

"Here," I offered, taking the map from Maddox. Johnny had drawn a rough sketch of the passageway onto a bit of parchment-book paper.

"I found the map drawn on one of the bathroom stalls, and I copied it down," Johnny explained, "There's a whole bunch of stuff drawn up there. . . A bunch of stuff. Anyways," I felt Johnny shake his hair as he leaned over my shoulder, "Here's Hufflepuff Common Room"- he pointed to a box labelled 'Common Room' on the paper-"There's the painting of the badger, then behind it the passage way"-Johnny's finger traced its way along two perpendicular lines labelled 'Passage'-"See? There's a little Maddox, a little Otto, a little me, a little Rocco, and the rest of you lot." Johnny pointed to a bunch of cartoon figures with pudgy hands. I looked at Johnny to see him smiling proudly at his drawing.

"Good to know we're the rest of the lot," Bambi said sarcastically.

"No, no, I drew all of you, too," Johnny took the paper from my hand to show Bambi. Plum peered over Bambi to look at the drawing and asked,

"Why is my chest so big?"

"Never you mind."

"This isn't time for Show and Tell," I snatched the map back. "So," I continued in a brisk tone, examining the drawing, "You've done a very thorough examination of Plum's breasts, I see." A hand, assumedly Plum's, shoved me in the back.

"Back on task, men." Maddox reminded me.

"Right, right," I said, grinning. "So after we follow the tunnel all the way, we should reach a trapped door in the floorboards."

"Right," Johnny assured me.

"So that should be right here, then," Maddox said to no one in particular. I could feel every head in the tunnel simultaneously look up.

"Was there any notes on how to open this trapped door?" Maddox asked Johnny, banging on roof of the passage.

"Not that I know of," Johnny said uncertainly. I started to feel along the ceiling as well.

"Oh-wait," Maddox exclaimed, "I think I found something. Yep, there's a crack along the end of the ceiling. I can't get my fingers in it, though."

"That's what she said."

"Otto, please."

"I had to take that one, I had to."

"Does anybody have unusually thin fingers?" Maddox asked the group.

"Move, move, move, move," I felt Dray push me aside as he crawled on all fours to the end of the tunnel.

"They should really work on making these secret passage ways accommodative to tall people. Where's the crack?"

"There."

"Oh, that's not very thin! You have sausage fingers, Maddox!"

"No, I don't. You have twigs for fingers. And arms. And legs."

"All three of them."

"Otto, do us all a favor and shut the filch up."

"Yeah. My dick's no twig, friend. It's more like one of those large, American trees th-"

"ENOUGH-with the talk of body parts," Bambi silenced Dray.

"Can you find anything, Dray?" I asked.

"I think the ceiling's actually moving," Dray told me, "Not on it's own, I mean. But if I push on it- there, d'you here that?" I did hear it; the sound of air being released as Dray pushed the ceiling.

"It's going into something. . . like a cabinet being pushed into a drawer," Dray informed the group. "There, I think that's as far as it's gonna go. Ah, well the place is quite roomy, now."

"Yeah, where **you're** standing," Plum called to Dray, "Can you find anything now?"

"There's a knob- at least, I think it's a knob," Dray said curiously.

Then I hear a pop, and moonlight filled the passage way.

"Yep, it's a knob," Dray added.

Dray and Maddox hoisted everyone out of the passage way and into Green House #3, Dray lifting himself out last and shutting the door.

"Oof, you'd think they'd want to keep the plants warm," Bambi muttered from beside me. I could feel her shivering. The December air was bitter, and it clung to my skin.

"Well, what we need to plant doesn't require any certain temperature," Maddox stated as he unloaded supplies from his pockets and set to work. "Do you want my jacket?"

"M'alright," Bambi mumbled back.

I glanced around the green house. Something about the black sky outside made the place look eery. I clenched my teeth, and looked back to the group.

"Can you fill one of the bins with water, Plum?" Maddox asked as he carefully unwrapped a damp package. Plum obliged and went to fill up a plastic container.

"What exactly are we planting again?" Otto asked aloud, looking up at the sky.

"Gillyweed," Maddox informed him. "Saltwater Gillyweed."

"Don't they put that in drinks?" Dray asked Maddox.

"Yes, but typically that's the freshwater gillyweed. Freshwater's also good for eating if you want to take a swim. There's a slight difference between the two," Maddox said while he worked.

"But, then what good will this water do?" Plum asked him as she handed him the bin of water.

"I've got a solution to mix in that will produce the affect of saltwater. Luckily, it won't look like saltwater when it's mixed, though. Professor Sprout wouldn't want to see Saltwater Gillyweed growing the green house," Maddox chuckled to himself.

"Why not?" Otto asked, breaking his star gazing to look at Maddox.

"Because. It's illegal." Maddox said nonchalantly.

"Gillyweed isn't illegal," Johnny said, incredulous. "My nextdoor neighbor plays Water Pitch. They need gillyweed to play." (note- Water Pitch is the equivalent of playing Quidditch in water. Like water polo.)

"That's Freshwater Gillyweed, which is legal," Maddox informed Johnny in a tired voice. "Although you can use Saltwater Gillyweed to breathe underwater."

"So then, why do we have to plant the illegal one? And why do we need to breathe underwater?" I asked. Maddox closed his eyes, set down his work, and sighed.

"We don't need to breathe underwater. The reason why we're planting Saltwater Gillyweed is so we can smoke it."

"Excellent," I grinned.

"You can smoke gillyweed?" Dray asked. Maddox nodded and returned to his work.

"Only saltwater, though. Freshwater doesn't produce the same minerals. It takes some getting used to, however, from what I read. It doesn't feel as if you're breathing in smoke, more like you're drinking water and it goes down the wrong pipe."

"Eeeuugh, I hate that feeling!" Plum trembled, "Why would anyone want to do that?"

"Why would anyone want to inhale smoke?" Maddox looked up at her.

"Touche."

"Besides, the actual effect should be amazing," Maddox grinned. "From what I've read, it's quite interesting. Like, as if your mind is swimming, but- well, it's supposed make more sense once you've tried it."

"But only a few of us are smokers, not including you," Otto pointed out.

"Well, I plan on trying it," Maddox replied, "It'll be a new experience. But I figured that we'd be selling it to some students as well. We've got people from each house, right?"

"Are we keeping the money?" Dray asked Maddox.

"That's the plan."

"YES!" Dray punched the air.

"Yes, it'll will be quite beneficial. Now, help me plant the seeds, it's not easy," Maddox said, examining what I assumed to be instructions. "We have to bury the seeds beneath some soil. And it has to be underwater, of course."

"It would've been more smart to have filled up the tub once the seeds were planted then," Johnny said, poking some of the clear, gel-filled pods that were gillyweed seed.

"No, the water's got to be in there first. I hope you don't mind getting your hands dirty," Maddox said. Johnny shook his head.

"Okay, try to hold some of the seeds down while Rocco- yes, you- covers them in soil. Try to plant them in groups of four."

I scooped out some dark, wet earth from a large bowl on a nearby table. Carefully, I coated the seeds with the soil, packing on more till it formed an oddly shaped lump at the bottom of the bin.

"Good. Okay, everybody, pick a partner, and start planting," Maddox said, rubbing his hands together. The group broke up, and everyone began to plant as Maddox observed and read the instructions repeatedly.

"I feel like we should pull a big Holiday prank over break," Plum said as she took a handful of mud, "Something that we can get away with without the other students here. So when everyone gets back the place will be chaotic."

"Sounds fun to me," Dray grinned.

"Chaos can only lead to hilarity," I said philosophically.

"So, what's everyone doing for the holidays?" Bambi asked everyone as the planting began.

"Dunno. I'm not leaving school," Dray said, "I would've already left with Leo yesterday." Leo had gone home to his family for Christmas break via flu powder the day before.

"There's no way in hell I'd ever go home for the holidays. You couldn't pay me," I mumbled. Johnny grinned.

"Your parent's aren't that bad. They aren't nearly as pretentious as mine. Hanukkah's awful, every year. I've finally convinced my parents to let me stay at school for once."

"Ha, you invited me that one time," Otto said grinning, "The light show was very impressive, though. I had no idea your brother was so good with fireworks. As for me, I'm headed home on the train tomorrow. My mum's home alone, with the cat. I couldn't leave her on Christmas, what kind of son would that make me?"

"Aww," Bambi smiled at Otto, "You're adorable." She pinched his cheek. Otto moaned and swatted at her hand, rubbing at his cheek with the other. I chuckled along with the others.

"I'm leaving, too. My sister's going to be throwing some New Year's party and she's paying me to keep the parents away. Whoop-didee-doo." Bambi deadpanned. Plum grinned.

"Ah, the evil twin strikes again. Tell Basil I said hi," she joked. Bambi hissed.

"You staying?" Maddox asked Plum.

"Yep. My parents want Christmas to themselves this year. I don't want to think about what that means. But at least I know that I'm loved," Plum added sarcastically.

"Ah, the child shunned by the parents," Dray grinned.

"We're out of seeds, Maddox," Johnny intervened in the conversation.

"Okay. Good work, everyone, this looks great," Maddox said cheerily as he looked at the mud pies in the water. "Let's put the bin somewhere discreet, and pack up."

"Are you going home, Maddox?" I asked as I helped him lift the tray off the table, careful not to spill.

"Yeah, I'm boarding the tray tomo-"

Just as Maddox began to speak, the door to the green house opened. It was a miracle that I didn't drop the tray; I felt as if all of the bones in my legs had evaporated.

"What's going on?" I heard from the unidentified figure in the doorway. They had an unmistakable French accent.

"Trenna!" Bambi gasped. The figure walked into the room, and I saw a tall girl with a crop of red hair frowning at us.

"Rocco, let's set this down soon," Maddox reminded me, and together we eased the watery bin onto a ledge along the walls of the green house.

"What are you people doing?" The girl, Trenna asked aloud. "Plum, Bambi?" She looked at the other two girls nervously.

"Well, we're planting," Plum said cautiously, glancing wide-eyed at Maddox for guidance.

"Something that can only be planted during the moonlight," Maddox interrupted, "It's for a project." Trenna snorted and rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to lie to me, you know."

"Yes, we do," Dray said, squinting at her, "You're that bitch who rats on everyone."

"Whoa, let's not jump to name calling," Johnny said.

"Well, I can't rat on anyone now, can I?" Trenna glared at Dray, "since nobody'll talk to me anymore. Not even these two," she looked back at Plum and Bambi.

"Sorry, Tren. We've been busy," Plum defended herself, poorly. I smirked.

"Please, just don't tell anyone we were here. It'll mean a lot," Bambi pleaded, more convincingly than Plum.

"Like I said," Trenna started walking back out of the green house, "Nobody will talk to me anymore. I'll see you later," and with that, she shut the door.

Silence followed. Everyone simply stared at the door.

"That was random," I said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, why was she coming here in the middle of the night, anyways?" Dray asked, frowning.

"None of our business, really," Maddox said. "C'mon let's get back to the Common Room before anyone else knows we were here."


	15. Chapter 15

dray.

"Darius Dark! What in Merlin's name are you- Joy, Banks, Heralds, Newmanburg, Manning, I- Kayson?" I, Bambi, Rocco, Plum, Johnny, Otto, and Maddox flinched as we heard Professor Mcgonagall call us each by name. We were standing in the middle of the third floor hallway. Everything was dark except for the tip of Professor Mcgonagall's wand, illuminating the high walls of the corridor.

"Why do we keep running into people during these things," Johnny mumbled.

"What are all of you doing out of bed?" Mcgonagall stared down at all of us, her eyes pulsating inside their sockets.

"We were just walking arou-" Plum began, but her face froze, and her mouth went slack. "George?"

Standing a few feet behind Mcgonagall were three students, two boys and one girl, each a redhead, and each in their pajamas. I spotted George right away- and then I did a double take. There were two.

"How do you know which one's which?" Otto whispered. Plum rolled her eyes.

"Silence! Dark, this isn't your first offense, is it?" Professor Mcgonagall interrupted sharply. "Now, tell me, Dark. What are you and your group of friends doing? Don't lie to me, boy!" I shrugged.

"We were just walking around the castle, nothing more. We weren't going to leave, or disturb anyone. I just. . . I wanted to see what it was like, see. Just wanted to know how the castle looked when it was, you know, empty." I stumbled over my words. Mcgonagall didn't look convinced.

"You'll have plenty of time to observe the emptyness of the castle during break. Now, I don't have time to deal with all of you, I have to take these students to the headmasters office. I advise you all get back to your dorms. Immediately. Just for future reference, I'm not the only professor who wanders the halls at night." Mcgonagall gave us each a meaningful look. She parted the group between me and Otto and marched down the hallway, the redheaded girl following.

I sighed, and continued down the hall.

"She's angry at me now," Maddox moaned, "Anybody but Mcgonagall. I would have preferred any other teacher, but not her. She LIKES me. . ."

"Better than Umbridge, mate, I can tell you that," Bambi said soothingly.

"Why did I even come up here?" Rocco whispered to himself, "Should've just stayed in my Common Room."

"C'mon, group celebration in the astronomy tower," Otto's white teeth grinned at Rocco in the dark.

"Not worth it," Rocco mumbled, "I'm barely passing in Mcgonagall's class. Might as well get a D now 'nd have done with it."

"In all seriousness, though, that's the third person we've run into. We need to be more stealthy," Johnny stated.

We were all turning a corner when I realized Plum was missing. I looked back and saw her standing next to the Weasley boy. They were farther down the hallway, and I could barely see the outline of Plum's back. They were whispering to each other. I couldn't make out a single word, but each syllable stung. I swallowed.

It shouldn't have hurt. HE should have been the one hurting. But it wasn't something I could just wish away, or force down like everything else. It stayed. The feeling just clung to me. And I hated it. I felt my hands balling up into fists, I felt my jaw clench, I felt my pulse in my fingertips but it didn't do any good. Screaming wouldn't do any good.

They were done talking, and silence had fallen. I clenched my mouth tighter when I realized they were kissing. Then footsteps started echoing down the hallway, and I knew she was walking back. I stood my ground.

"Oop- sorry. Where are the others?" she asked when she bumped into me.

"Down the hall," I said stiffly. She walked around me, but her footsteps slowed, and I knew she had stopped again.

"Coming?" I heard. I didn't talk for a long time.

"Plum," I asked, trying to remain calm, "How come, even though I've tried, even though I've pushed and waited. . . How come he's first, and I'm not?" I turned around to look at Plum, but I could see her.

"Dray, you're not seriously going to talk ab-"

"No," I interrupted her. My voice cracked, and I swallowed again before continuing, "I've tried just as hard as he does. So, how come even though you continue to push me into closets and find me after class, how come HE is the one who gets to hold your hand in the halls? How come he-" I paused, realized I was shouting, and started to whisper-" Sorry. How come he can kiss you in the Great Hall, and take you down to Hogsmead, and. . . and get to smile at you across the room without seeming out of place? What makes him better than me?"

"I push you into closets? I push you? You're making me out to be the offender, here, but I'm not, Dray, I most certainly am not," Plum stomped her foot.

"Well, you don't object. I can't say I would've stopped if you had, but maybe I wouldn't have carried on thinking if you hadn't acted like you cared."

"How can I please you and please George at the same time?"

"You don't get it! You don't, Plum!" I grabbed Plum by the shoulders and shook her, " Remember when I told you I wanted to prove I was better than that prat? I was serious. For starts, does he even know what you've been doing?" I searched in the dark for Plum's eyes, trying to see my reflection.

"Of course not."

"Didn't think so. I know you're going to say 'This is really hard on me, I'm so confused-"

"Because I AM, you're confusing me right NOW, I-"

"LISTEN. I know that, I don't get it, but I know. But it's confusing me, too. What qualities does he have that make him better than me? Because I can be better than him, I know it for a fact. He's nothing."

"George has a name, you know."

"You don't seem to treat him like he does." Plum thrust my hands off her shoulders and shoved me in the chest.

"How dare you say that! How DARE you, Dray."

"Plum, you need to understand where I'm coming from with this. If you two are going to be a couple, then fine. But I'm not going to stop trying, Plum, I want you. Yeah, I'll say it, and DON'T push me," I grabbed her hand as she pushed me again, "But I can't go on wondering. Okay, I'm not being clear," I sighed before I went on, "I want you to want me more. Than him. I don't care if it's still moments in closets, or right after classrooms, that's actually not that important. What I'm saying is. . . I want you to favor me, and I want to know how to get your favor."

"Are. you. mad?"

"Yes." Plum's grip slackened against my shirt.

"I'm coming off as a right bint, aren't I?"

"Well, yes."

"Do you think it hurts George?"

"What does?"

"That I'm not always honest with him."

"Oh. Yes."

"Are you saying that I've got to stop fooling around with you and commit?"

"No, not necessarily," Plum's grip came back momentarily, but went away again.

"I still don't know which of you I like better."

"I understand that."

"I'm not going to see George until after Christmas break."

". . . Ah."

"Dray, as long as you keep trying, I'm still going to give in to you."

"I'm not going to stop until you make me."

"Well, then this whole argument got us nowhere."

"Fantastic."

"Do you want to kiss me?"

"Yes."

"Too bad. Tonight's not your night." Plum turned around and walked away.

The hallway was completely empty. I stood where I was looking at where she had just been standing. And I yelled. After the cry, I fell onto my knees and just crumbled. I lay on the carpet, breathing heavily.

"You opened up to her, dammit. So why are you nowhere?" I asked to the empty space around me.

**bambi.**

** "Bambi," I was walking down the hallway with Maddox towards Ravenclaw Common Room. The halls were empty, and I could hear the breathing of all the sleeping paintings around us.**

** "Bambi, we're both leaving for the holidays. I'm not going to see you for two weeks."**

** "Yeah, I know," I responded to Maddox. I looked at him. He had taken off his beanie and was scratching his head.**

** "This is going to sound odd," he smiled to himself, "but are you going to miss me? Over break?" I grinned, and looked away.**

** "What you're trying to ask me is if I like you, but you don't want to sound cheeky."**

** "Basically," he responded. I could hear him trying not to laugh at himself.**

** "I haven't really thought about it," I said lightly. "Well, actually that's a lie. Yes, I have thought about you. But the thing is, I haven't really thought about it. I just went around in a complete circle," I laughed, "What I'm trying to say is I haven't thought of the prospect of you liking me back and having our like become a mutual like. Because the boys I like never ever like me back. They end up liking another girl who likes them back who is, well, I guess a little better matched."**

** "No other girls like me back." **

** "Your glasses don't make you any less blind, Maddox," I smiled at him. He was looking at his feet. He paused in the hallway.**

** "Maybe girls like me because they think I'm attractive. And then they learn I'm a prick. I know, I'm a prick. I ruin things. I might look like the guy who's nonchalant and lets life pass him by, but I need to participate in life. And most girls don't like that. But you do?" "Yeah. I hate men who don't participate in life," I said sarcastically. He laughed.**

** "Well, it's bad timing. But I had to know, it's been driving me crazy."**

** "You didn't want life to pass you by?" **

** ". . . Yeah. That was weird, you just read my mind. I didn't want to seem like a douche for saying it, though." He said as he looked up the staircase leading to Ravenclaw's Common Room.**

** "Nah. Sometimes douchey stuff makes sense. It only gets labelled because the men who say those things look douchey."**

** "I look douchey, Bambi."**

** "No, you don't. You look like Maddox."**

** "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. Is it bad that I asked you right before vacation?" "Kind of, yeah." **

** "Well," Maddox sighed. Then he looked at me. I rolled my eyes.**

** "Maddox, if you're going to kiss me, you should just do it now so we don't stand here for ages." He smiled at me, and nodded. **

** And he kissed me. The kiss was awkward at first; Maddox was standing too far away. But he moved in and took hold of my face. I tried hard not to smile when he kissed me. I felt like I was melting inside. I'd been waiting for this for too long. He eventually moved away, taking a few steps back.**

** "See you in two weeks," he said, smiling.**

** "Yeah," I said in a voice that wasn't really my own. But I think he knew I was happy.**


	16. Chapter 16

**plum.**

** I shut my book for the umpteenth time, and sighed. It was only the second day of break, but I had quickly grown sick of the only other four Ravenclaws. One of them was a bratty first year, another didn't even sleep in the dorms, and Johnny had taken to a fifth year immediately. The two of them were currently slurping away in the corner as I tried to catch up on homework. When I stood up to leave, I heard Johnny finally come up for a breath.**

** "Hey. Hey, where are you going?" I stopped, and turned to look at him. Johnny was concernedly glancing at me while his friend continued to lick his ear lobe. **

** "What, do you want me to stay and watch?" I wrinkled my nose, and opened the door to the Common Room. I was halfway out the door, when I felt the hand on my shoulder. "Whoa, don't be like that. Josie, I've gotta handle this, be back," Johnny shut the door behind him. "What's up?"**

** "Nothing," I shrugged, "I just need to get out."**

** "I just need to get out," Johnny mimicked me, smiling. "C'man, Plum. You've been acting funny for two days straight now. Girls don't stay angry for that long unless they're serious. I should know, I live with three. Walk with me," Johnny started walking down the staircase. I followed.**

** "I apologize for not being entertained by you sucking face with a fifth year," I grimaced again. "Ick. Sorry, but they're just all together an awful class. Well, not all, I guess. But besides the select group. . ."**

** "Well, that's your opinion," Johnny said as I reached the bottom of the stairs. "But my amazing tongue isn't what's got you bothered. Care to elaborate?" He nudged me a bit as we walked down the hall.**

** "No."**

** "Christ's sake. Do you ever open up?"**

** "Yes."**

** "Can you give me more than a one word answer?"**

** "On occasion."**

** "Whoa, TWO full words? Slow down, there!" **

** "OH, be quiet," I laughed. "But why do you care whether I'm pissed or not?"**

** "Are you saying we aren't friends?" Johnny asked.**

** "No," I answered cautiously, "I'm saying that you've never taken an interest in my personal life before."**

** "And neither has anyone else at this school besides Bambi. Plum, I've got two very dramatic older sisters. Trust me when I say it helps if you let stuff out." By now, we had reached a large balcony overlooking the lake. I walked to the railing, and sat down.**

** "Alright, if you really want to listen," I said as Johnny sat down to my left.**

**"I've got a boyfriend. A nice one. And certain people- who will remain nameless- don't appreciate that, and like to take advantage of my alone time. And for some dumb reason I don't resist. Oh, and I'm spending two weeks without my boyfriend trying to avoid one other person."**

** "Okay, well," Johnny started, "The first thing I would do is to stop avoiding this person. For now let's call them Ray," I looked over and saw him giving me the, 'Please, I'm not blind' look. "You avoiding Ray is only making matters worse. They know you're avoiding them. And then Ray will ask you about it and then you'll get in a fight that will inevitably lead to him being turned on- people like Ray seem to get off on fury- which will lead to you not being able to resist him. So stop avoiding him. THEN, I would make Ray feel like dirt. If you want to be with George more, you make Ray feel like dirt. Boys aren't like girls in the way that they think abuse is affection. We know the difference. But you have to hurt Ray to his face. And not through friends who we'll name Donny. Or Robbo. Or O. . . Yeah, I don't know anything that rhymes with Otto. Well, his full name's Othello. Which doesn't help. Back to the point," Johnny said, trying not to laugh with me, "Sitting back and letting the whole thing take place won't fix a thing. Have you ever read 'The Odyssey'?"**

** "No."**

** "Don't. It's a crap-ass book. But the main character, Odysseus, has a wife, Penelope. And since Odysseus is far away, many men have come to try and win Penelope's favor. But she's not picking anyone. Partly because she still loves her husband, and partly because she's a bitch. You don't want to be Penelope, Plum. Nobody likes her, not even her son. Oh yeah, you'd also have a son, which would suck since you're sixteen."**

** "I'm actually seventeen. My birthday's in November."**

** "Still. Do you get what I'm trying to say? I kind of went off on a rant, there."**

** "Yeah, I think so," I sighed, "it's not that I can't do what you said to. It's just that I'm not sure I want to."**

** "Then you'll have to figure that out first," Johnny replied. There was a long pause of silence before I asked,**

** "How can you make so much sense in just ten minutes? I've known you for what- six years now? And you have never made so much sense in those six years as you have now."**

** "Well, in all fairness, you never actually talked to me until two months ago. I don't even remember you."**

** "Oh, gee. Thanks."**

** "You're welcome," Johnny said as he stood up. "So," he offered me his hand, "Wanna go plan a prank?"**

** "Won't Josie miss you?" I grinned.**

** "Nah. She's a bad kisser, anyways."**

**. . .**

** Rocco was sitting in the Common Room, looking through a book and smoking a cigarette. He looked up as Johnny and I entered the Common Room.**

** "Hey-hey. How are you two?"**

** "Fine," Johnny and I answered in unison. Then Johnny added,**

**"Are you reading a book? An actual, legitimate book? Wow. Just- wow." Rocco glared at him from over the brim of his reading.**

** "I'm trying to find out some information. Stuff on animals. It would be for the prank."**

** "Funny, that's what we came to discuss," I told Rocco, sitting down next to him on the couch. "Why animals?"**

** "Well," Rocco said, closing the book, "I originally wanted to find some spells that would just tear up the hallways, like have massive spiderwebs and cause lava to come out from the floorboards 'nd stuff. But the teachers would have time to reverse that before everyone comes back, wouldn't they? So, now I'm trying to research some kinds of bugs that can infest the place, but I'm not having any luck."**

** "Please, no bugs," I gagged, "Let's stick to spells."**

** "We don't have to do anything right away," Johnny put in, "We could wait for the day before classes start. Then we can put up the spells. We'd also have more time for planning."**

** "But we should be pulling pranks on the professors all through break!" I protested.**

** "If we wait longer, the less likely anyone will suspect it. And besides, no one would be here to observe the pranks." Johnny argued.**

** "Good point," Rocco added, "Sorry, Plum." I rolled my eyes.**

** "Fine. But how would we go unnoticed?"**

** "Disillusionment charms work pretty well," Rocco suggested.**

** "You know what would be really sweet," Johnny grinned widely, "My brother knows this spell that lets you walk on the ceiling, walls, everything. You don't lose your sense of gravity, it's just- it's so cool! He's always using it, and I'd really like to try it out."**

** "Excited much?"**

** "Shut up, Rocco."**

** "No, that sounds fantastic! Really, Johnny," I added when he didn't look convinced. "Actually, that could accomplish a lot," I muttered slowly.**

** "What do you have in mind?" Rocco asked tentatively. I grinned.**

** "I need paper, ink, and a spell book."**

**. . .**

**"Hi. You busy?" I opened the door to his room. He looked up, surprised.**

** "Hi. No, I'm not busy. Is there something you want? . . ." I smiled.**

** "Well, yeah, kind of." I sat down next to him on the bed, and gently leaned into kiss his neck. He hadn't shaved recently.**

** "What are you doing?" He asked me with a little more force.**

** "I'm trying to continue what we started earlier. Well- what you started earlier." I parted his lips, taking it slowly. Looking down, I could see the brim of his boxers. They had tiny red stars embroidered on them. Smiling, I turned back to look at his face.**

** "Are you. . . are you sure?"**

** "Someone just told me that I need to figure out what I want. So could you please let me?"**

**He smiled, and kissed me back. We didn't talk for a while after that. But eventually,**

** "Do you think he'll ever know?" By now, he was laying on top of me. I played with a piece of his tousled hair.**

** "Not if you don't tell him."**

** He snorted. "Why would I ever do that?" **

** I smiled. "Exactly." And I kissed him again.**


	17. Chapter 17

rocco.

"Merry Christmas!" I burst into Slytherin Common Room, and found Dray sprawled across one of the leather couches. Smiling, I dumped my traditional Christmas bucket of water on his head.

"AGHfff- What the hell?" Dray spat at me, falling off the couch onto the hard wood. I laughed at him, and sat down on his pillow.

"Seriously, not cool! I was planning on giving you a lighter, but you can forget it now," Dray shoved me over and climbed back into the makeshift bed.

"Oh, a lighter. How thoughtful. It's not like you can't buy one for 12 knuts."

"Hey, you haven't seen it yet. Stainless steel, and the flame's one helluva color." Dray reached under the sofa and pulled out three presents, each wrapped in newspaper. He handed me the smallest of the three, smiling.

"Oh, gee. I wonder what it is!" I said sarcastically, shaking it for dramatic effect.

"Don't get cheeky," Dray threatened as I rolled my eyes. I ripped the newspaper down the side, and emptied out its contents.

"Damn, Dray, you didn't even bother to put it in a box? You do know that newspaper is flammable, right? And lighters cause fire. See, this little button is what you- whoa." My jaw slackened as soon as the flame erupted from the lighter. It was barely white at the base, and the licking flames were luminescent, barely detectable to the eye.

"Awesome, right?" Dray grinned at the lighter proudly. "I hear if you light it in the dark, the flames glow."

"Dray, all fire does that."

"Yeah, but it turns different colors. Like, depending on the aura of the place."

I grinned with him. "Cool. . . . em, how much did you pay?"

"Nicked it."

"Oh. How thoughtful of you."

"Thank me all you want later," Dray stood up, "I have to go take a massive dump. If you hear moaning think nothing of it."

"Will do," I said, still inspecting my present. After a while, I remembered that lighter fluid runs out pretty quickly, so I shut the contraption off. Gazing at the other presents, I noticed they were for Johnny and Plum. Neither were particularly large, but big enough to make my present seem inadequate. And then I hatched a plan.

Picking up the presents, I walked over to the lavatory door.

"Dray? You in there? I'm gonna go give Johnny and PLUM their presents now. If you wanna come with, open the door now-"

"Agh! Rocco, stay where you are, just five seconds! Please, it's all I ask, I-"

"Too late," I interrupted Dray mid-sentence, and took off out of the Common Room.

. . .

"Are zebras black with white stripes or white with black stripes?"

"What? I don't know that!" I retorted at the Ravenclaw door.

"Yes, you do. Everyone has an answer for everything."

"Fine. . . gimme a minute," I paused to think of an answer that would make no sense. "There are different races of zebra, so to say they are all white or all black would be racist."

"You know, there's a reason you're not in Ravenclaw," the dreamy voice said contemptibly.

"Oh, what flattery," I mumbled. "Can I have another go?"

"Have as many 'go's as you want."

"42."

"Wrong question."

"To get to the other side."

"You might make sense if you actually try. There isn't just one answer."

"Hey! It's Christmas!" I said, gesticulating too much, "I shouldn't have to put up with this snitch, especially from a door." The door said nothing. I sighed.

"You know what? It's neither. Zebras aren't black with white stripes, or white with black stripes. They're grey. How's that answer, you codger!"

"There is often a method to one's madness," the door replied, opening up to the Common Room. I stepped inside.

"Hello? Johnny? Plum? I've got your Christmas presents."

"Rocco?" I heard to my right, and I swivelled to see Plum on top of Johnny. I was about to shield my eyes, but then I looked again.

"Bloody hell! I thought you were straddling! What are you two doing anyways?" I asked as Plum rolled her eyes, and Johnny dropped his head back onto the floor a little too hard.

Wincing in pain, Johnny said, "Plum's piercing my ear. It's her delightful Christmas present to me, hoorah."

"Oh. Well is there a way to pierce his ear in a less provocative stance?"

"We tried that," Plum informed me, "Not that this is for enjoyment, or whatever," she added hastily at my surprise, "It's just every time I go to pierce, Johnny gets a major body spaz. I thought this would hold him down."

"You might as well just hand cuff him to a chair and suck his-"

"Rocco!" Johnny interrupted me. Plum blushed a little, and set down her wand.

"Sorry, sorry," I apologized. "Do you want my help, or anything?"

"Actually, that'd be quite helpful," Plum sighed, "You should watch in case you need to soak up the blood."

"Blood? You never said anything about blood!" Johnny panicked. Plum shook her head.

"Don't worry, don't worry. Only, like, one in twenty people bleed from ear piercings. Rocco, could you? And also, could you maybe hold down his head while I'm piercing?"

"Sure, no problem," I kneeled down on the left side of Johnny's head.

"You know what? You shouldn't be giving me a Christmas present. I'm Jewish! My holidays already passed, there's really no need for this," Johnny protested.

"Or maybe it means I should give you eight piercings for each day of Hanukkah," Plum replied.

"What? No, I was joking! You're just doing one hole, right? Just one," Johnny said, his voice shaky. I grinned.

"Aww, wittle Johnny's scared," I cooed. He glared.

"How about YOU get permanent mutations on your body? By an amateur!"

Well, technically, you are next," Plum grumbled as she positioned her wand at a black dot marked on Johnny's ear. My grin fell.

"What?" I asked hesitantly.

"Happy Hanukkah!" Plum said joyfully, and plunged her wand into Johnny's ear. Johnny made a movement to scream, but stopped.

"Oh. That wasn't that bad, actually."

"See?" Plum reassured him, easing her wand out of Johnny's ear lobe. "And no blood! So, what do you want next? Nose? Eyebrow? Nipple?"

"Whoa, no thank you!" Johnny sat up quickly(well, as far as he could with Plum on him).

"Sure you don't want a sexy nipple piercing, Johnny?" I asked him, grinning again.

"Oh, shut up. No, I'm done. Piercings don't really fit my image," Johnny stated.

"You have an image?" Plum giggled. Then turning to me, "So, what's it for you, Rocco?"

"I don't know, Plum, it's not really m-"

"Don't be a woose. You smoke, you're punk rock. Getting a piercing, that's nothing on you!" Plum was interrupted by Johnny snorting. I shoved him. "Seriously, though. It's your one shot to get that piercing you've always dreamed of!" Plum added.

"I don't have a dream piercing."

"Yes, you do. Everybody does. DUMBLEDORE has a secret dream piercing. So, what's yours? Don't be shy, we're all friends here."

"Well," I started, still hesitant, " I always thought. . . snakebites would be kinda cool. . ."

"Alright," Plum smiled, "snakebites it is." "Snakebites?" Johnny asked. "What're those?"

"Dey go like dis," Plum hooked two of her fingers on her lip. Johnny nodded.

"Hardcore."

"Yup. Okay, well, hopefully I won't have to climb on top of you to get it done," Plum said, polishing her wand on her pajamas.

"How much is it going to hurt?" I asked her. My nerves were quickly building inside of me, rising into my throat.

"I dunno, I've never pierced my lip. D'expect it would hurt more than an ear, but not as much as a nose, or eyebrow. Close your eyes, it'll be over soon."

"Can't you numb it?"

"What, so you can have a saggy lip for the rest of Christmas? No, don't be silly!" Plum picked up a Sharpie and examined my lip. Carefully, she made two dots on either side of my lip. "Are these good spots?" she asked, holding a mirror up to my face. I looked back at my clearly scared reflection.

"This is all going way too fast."

"That doesn't answer my question." "Um, the right one could be closer to the edge of my lip, I guess." I offered. Plum remarked it, and showed me the mirror again. I nodded in consent.

"Okidokes, here we go," Plum leaned in with her wand in hand. I tensed. "Calm, it's all right. Just relax, all will be over soon," Plum added soothingly. I eased up, but my fists stayed clenched.

Plum pulled my bottom lip gently away from my gum, then pressed her wand tip to the edge and- two times I felt it sink into my lip, all the way through, touching my gum. Miraculously, something stayed put where the wand had been, cold in my skin.

My first immediate feeling was 'Oh, cold.' Then 'wait, was that the pierce?'. Then 'ow, that kinda hurt.' Then 'Oh, snitch, that filching hurt.'

"Ow. Ow!" I said at Plum forcefully. She smiled at me. "What're you smiling about? I'm in pain! OW! It's so pinchy! OWOWOWOWOW!" I whined. I could hear Johnny laughing behind me. Plum, still smiling, held up the mirror again. In the mirror, I looked at my lip closely and saw to shiny loops of metal extending from the bottom of my lower lip to the lip parting. I pressed my tongue against my lip and felt the cool rings inside my mouth. The area where Plum had made the injection was slightly red, and it still hurt like hell.

"What kind of earring'd you get?" I asked Johnny.

"Emm. . . ring, me thinks," Johnny said contemplatively, feeling his ear.

"Hoops are all I know how to do at the moment," Plum said. "But I'm practicing other shapes on fabric."

"Oh, thanks for telling us now," I muttered. Plum shrugged.

"Well, most guy piercings work with a hoop. They can be different, but the piercings I want don't work with hoops, so I still need practice."

"Might I ask what you want?" Johnny asked curiously.

"No, it'll be a surprise," Plum smiled. "But I'm thinking I can start piercing other students 'nd stuff."

"Yeah that'd be-" I was interrupted by Dray bursting into the Common Room. "Do you know how long I've been out there arguing with that bleeding door?" he growled. Then he froze and stared at me. "Whus wrong with your lip?" he asked.

"Plum just pierced it," I said, massaging my bottom lip gently, "and it hurts. Bad. Why, does it look wierd?" I added, suddenly worried.

"Oh. No, it looks fine," Dray said looking at Johnny now. "You got your ear-"

"Yeah. Ears don't hurt that much, I'd go for it instead of lip," Johnny answered as he lay down on a couch. Dray looked confusedly at Plum.

"Wait. . . you're not piercing me. No way," he said shakily.

"Oh, please. Look, Johnny and Rocco got through it, you can too. It's my Christmas present."

"Return it."

"No. Suck it up, you're getting one."

"But I don't WANT one!" Dray protested. Plum smirked.

"Yes, you do. Everybody has at least one dream piercing," she told him. I rolled my eyes.

"Dream tattoo? Maybe. But not piercings." Dray stated.

"Oh, so you want a tattoo?" Plum asked, surprised. I wasn't shocked.

"Dray's been drawing on his body since he first found a pen. But his mum won't let him get one," I informed Plum.

"Till I turn seventeen, which is only a short time away," Dray grumbled.

"Well, that's excellent, then!" Plum beamed at Dray, "You start giving kids tattoos, and I'll give piercings. We'll have our own little business."

"Oh, yes, you're own little business, Dray!" Johnny mimicked. Plum glared at him.

"Are you mad? I don't know how to give tattoos!" Dray protested.

"I've got a book of odd little spells for stuff like that. It's where I learned the piercing one. But back to piercings, where do you want it?" Plum said, sitting down on the floor.

"You're not getting out of it, Dray. Just go along with it," I said, shrugging.

"Fine," Dray responded, moodily. He sat down next to Plum on the ground. "Pierce whatever. I don't really care."

"Oh, come on. Have some enthusiasm!" Plum said, overly-cheery. Dray shook his head.

"I don't know. . . nose piercing on a guy- fairy. Eyebrow piercing- ick. Lip piercing- Rocco's got it. Earring- yeah, kinda bland, but maybe," Dray contemplated.

"It's not boring!" Johnny protested. Dray grinned back.

"Sure, whatever you say. But I'm serious. I can't think of anything."

"Tongue?"

"Agh! No!"

"How 'bout one of those sexy nipple piercings?" I grinned. Dray made a face. "Okay, anything but that. Really, anything."

"Alright, I'll make a deal with you," Plum put in, "Dray, I won't give you a piercing. IF-" she interjected as Dray sighed with relief, "IF you promise to start the tattoo thing. That's all I ask. Deal?" Plum stuck out her hand.

"Done," Dray spat into his palm, and shook Plum's hand. Plum grimaced.

"That wasn't necessary, you know."

Dray ignored her. "I've got you people presents," Dray said, standing up. "Rocco, where'd you put them?"

"On the coffee table," I said, pointing at the boxes on a nearby table. Dray picked them up and handed them to Johnny and Plum. Johnny immediately tore off the newspaper and held up his gift.

"Guitar strap. Hmm. . . what's it made out of?" he asked quizzically, examining the leathery material.

"Dragon hide. It should last a while," Dray said smoothly, sitting down next to him.

"Wow. Thanks. That's. . . very generous of you," Johnny said, looking the strap up and down. I could tell he was searching for a price tag.

Meanwhile, Plum had unwrapped her gift carefully and was holding it in her hand, eyes wide.

"Tell me if you don't like it," Dray said to her. "I'm not really sure what girls like, so sorry. Happy Christmas." I leaned over to look at what she was holding. It was a tiny silver chain with a bright orange stone attached to a rung.

"It's just a necklace? Why was it wrapped in such a big container?" I asked Dray.

"To make you feel less special," Dray grinned. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"S'one pricey looking piece of jewelry," Johnny whistled, looking at the necklace, and then at me. He was looking for an explanation. I raised my eyebrows, and then shook my head. Johnny nodded in response.

"Yeah, well, my friends deserve the best," Dray looked proudly at the necklace as Plum put it on. She hadn't said anything, and she was beginning to frown.

"Well," I said after a long, awkward silence, "Happy Holidays everyone."


	18. Chapter 18

_maddox._

_"Hello,_ _anybody?_ _I'm_ _ho-"_

_"Okay,_ _here's_ _the_ _deal,_ _Maddox,"_ _Rocco_ _interrupted_ _me_ _as soon as I entered Hufflepuff Common Room. "We don't have a very long time, so here is your list of spells, use any one at random. You're taking the sixth floor with Dray. And careful for teachers, don't want to ruin your nancy boy image, now do you?" He smiled and shoved a Parchi-Stik at my chest. _

_ I looked at the list, then back at him._

_ "What? When did you plan anything out when I wasn't around?"_

_ "Actually Plum did the majority of the planning and we did it partially on the second day of break and partially while we were drunk on New Years."_

_ "How much did you accomplish on New Years exactly?"_

_ "Honestly. . . . well, we drew some pretty funny sketches of what Umbridge is gonna look like once she sees it. Wanna see?" _

_ "No," I scowled, paused, and then said, "Well, yes, but not right now! Where do I meet Dray?" I walked into the Common Room to let some third years in after me._

_ "He should be at the top of the stairs near the painting of that geisha strangling the squid," Rocco informed me as he pulled his hood over his scruffy hair._

_ "Actually it's an octopus and- did you do something with your lip?" I asked quizzically. Rocco pushed me, biting at the lip piercings._

_ "Why does everybody keep askin' like there's something wrong with it? It looks fine!... doesn't it?"_

_ "Oh, yeah, yeah. Suits you," I said hurriedly._

_ "Thank you. Right, on with the mission," Rocco pushed me again, this time out of the door. I swiveled around and started walking back down the hallway to the staircase._

_ "Nice to see you, too," I mumbled under my breath._

_. . ._

_ "There you are! Merlin, I thought you'd bailed," Dray sighed as soon as I reached the top of the stairs. The halls were dark, but torches were still lit every few feet._

_ "Do you know what time it is?" I asked Dray, bouncing on the balls of my feet. I was angsty to get my stuff unpacked._

_ "Round 2:15 when I left. Teachers are in bed by one, so we're fine. Well, unless Filch catches us. . . he never sleeps," Dray added in a low, ominous tone. I grinned._

_"What spells did Plum give you?" Dray asked as he started to walk down a hallway, leading to the Administrations Office. I squinted at my sheet._

_ "Umm, something about hairy fungus, sticky floors, zero gravity- Lord, where did you find these?"_

_ "Plum's got this book of really unusual spells. It's pretty cool," Dray answered, flexing his right arm a little as he said it. "Zero gravity, that's cool. I've got some pretty wicked ones, too, but none like that. Well, Plum told us to start here, so. . ." he stopped walking once we reached the Administrations Office. Then he took out his wand and said,_

_ "Silice." _

_ Lava started oozing out of the cracks in the floor, sizzling and steaming. The stones in the wall started to glow against the heat. The lava was bubbling, and as each bubble popped the lava spurted onto the ground farther and farther away from the main source. It didn't stop coming out, either._

_ "How long is it going to keep oozing for?" I asked Dray, still looking at the molten disaster._

_ "Dunno," he said contemplatively. _

_ "Cool," I said. I could feel myself grinning. Dray patted me on the back, then said,_

_ "Let's take the next hallway. Race you," and he took off. _

_ I took one last look at the lava, and ran off after him._

_. . ._

_ "Gravitas None. They could've really worked on that spell name," I said as I waved my wand in front of a hallway. I was pretty sure that this hallway had the back entrance to Gryffindor dorms, but doors changed all the time at Hogwarts._

_ "Yeah, they could have. Do you think it worked? It doesn't look different," Dray said, cocking his head to one side. _

_ "Wanna test it out?" _

_ Dray grinned at me, and then took a step into the hall. He was immediately lifted off his feet and into the air. He let out a yelp, but quickly shut his mouth. I laughed silently as he twisted mid air, trying to find some way to control his long limbs._

_ "Try swimming through it," I said to him, making motions with my hands. Dray copied me, and was able to navigate his way through the air._

_ "This is sick, Maddox. Literally, the coolest thing I've ever felt. Once we harvest that gillyweed, we are coming up here and having the time of our lives," Dray said all too seriously as he pretended to strut. I chuckled._

_ "Yeah, I'll have to rememb. . . did you hear something?" I swiveled around quickly._

_ "No," Dray said, unsure of his answer._

_ "I could have sworn I heard a footstep."_

_ "How do I get out of this, Maddox?" Dray asked, clearly panicking. _

_ "Calm down, and move towards me," I said, holding my arms out as if waiting for a child just taking its first steps. Dray half swam half ran through the air towards my direction and wham!- collapsed onto the floor as soon as he crossed me._

_ This time I could definitely hear footsteps coming in our direction._

_ "Snitch. Oh, snitch, oh snitch, oh snitch, oh snitch," I said as my nerve drained out of my body and into the floor. "Dray, what do we do?"_

_ "Okay, okay, umm, Johnny had this spell to use to avoid being seen. . . oh, son of a bludger, what was it?"_

_ "Think HARDER," I hissed at him as the footsteps got louder._

_ "No, I got it, I got it! It's Ad Caelum!" Dray whispered, pointing his wand at me. I immediately felt all of the blood in my body go to my head, and then back to normality. Seconds later I realized- I was on the ceiling! Dray grinned at me from his place on the ceiling, putting a finger to his lips. His hair extended inches from his head, making Dray strangely resemble a troll doll. I put my hand to my head to feel my own hair, but then I remembered that I normally keep it spiked anyways._

_ "A'right, naughties. What've you bloody done this time," I heard a voice groan from below. Filch shuffled around the corner, his red eyes glaring. Then I looked to Dray just in time to see him pull out his wand and say, 'Stupify'. Filch dropped to the ground, hitting his head much too hard._

_ "What did you do that for?" I asked Dray, aghast. Dray shrugged._

_ "Well, he couldn't have gone any further before going into 'No Gravity Zone', so then he woulda known. And also, it's part of the plan, in case we run into anyone. We should probably zap him again, actually. . . Stupify."_

_ "Stupify."_

_ "Stupify."_

_ "Stupify." Filch's body twitched slightly with each spell._

_ "Stupify."_

_ "Alright, that's good, let's try not to kill him. What's next?" I asked Dray as I walked down the hallway, looking at my list of spells._

_ "How many do you have left?"_

_ "Only one. You?" _

_ "One."_

_ "Right, so only two hallways left," I said, glancing up from the Parchi-Stik. "Which would be these two, I presume?" Facing me were two hallways, one leading back to the stairs and one leading to an unmarked door, most likely an abandoned classroom._

_ "We should charm the one leading to the stairs once we're actually next to the stairs so we don't have to go through anything," Dray said from behind me._

_ "Right. Well, before we do that, being on the ceiling has been fun and all, but how do we get down?" I glanced behind me to Dray._

_ "Just walk down the wall, onto the floor. The spell breaks then." _

_ I followed Dray's instructions, and sure enough, I made it to the floor after the odd experience of walking down a wall._

_ "Now I know how Spiderman feels," I grumbled._

_ "Who?" Dray asked me as he started down the wall._

_ "Nobody, forget it," I said, shaking my head, "I'll take the first hallway- Distorquere," I flicked my wand at the hallway. Just as Plum's explanation said, the hallway's walls started to bend and shrink. It looked like the stone had been replaced by funhouse mirrors._

_ "Nice," Dray said passively, and walked towards the staircase. I followed him. Once at the stairs, Dray muttered, _

_"Perplexor," and fog began to seep out of the cracks in the wall. I couldn't barely see a few inches past my face. I nodded to Dray, and began walking down the stairs._

_ "I wonder how the others are doing," I thought aloud. Just as I reached the bottom of the fifth floor staircase, I slipped on the step and fell on my arse. I didn't stop sliding until I reached the bottom of the staircase, depositing me at the corridor leading to the kitchen, dungeons, and our Common Rooms._

_ As soon as Dray zoomed in behind me, knocking me another good seven feet away from the stairs he said, _

_ "Does that answer your question?"_


	19. Chapter 19

**leo.**

**"Welcome back, loser," Dray said as soon as he saw me, ruffling my hair with his hand.**

** "Oi! Not the hair," I grumbled, trying to fix it quickly. I walking into the Entrance Hall, which was slowly filling with students chatting about their breaks.**

** "Come over here," Dray indicated the wall opposite the Great Hall doors. I followed him over to the wall, weaving through students.**

** "Merlin! How many decrees has she passed?" I said incredulously. The wall was plastered with framed documents, each stating a new rule, and each signed by Umbridge.**

** "Dunno, I think she's up to her- what would you say, Otto?" Dray asked Otto as he appeared behind me, "106th?"**

** "Don't ask me, mate, I been gone for three weeks," Otto shrugged, looking up at the wall.**

** "Well, anyways," Dray looked back to the wall, "take a look at the latest notice. Shame you couldn't participate last night." He grinned, pointing at a piece of paper. I leaned in close and read,**

**STUDENTS OF HOGWARTS**

**Last night, Argus Filch was found unconscious on the 6th floor. He is currently being treated for head induced injuries. The administrators of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy believe that one of our students is to blame. **

**Additional to the assault of an employee, almost every hallway in the school has been defaced. This is also believed to be the fault of a student. We warn all other students to be aware of this when visiting classes, and if anyone has any knowledge of who the offendor is, please report to Professor Umbridge's office immediately(class passes will be written). **

** "Oh, of course we report to Umbridge instead of Dumbledore now. Lovely," I said, eyeing the scrawly signature in pink ink at the bottom of the document.**

** "What do you think, though?" Dray leaned against the wall, his eyes twinkling from underneath his hair.**

** "Did you all do this?" I hissed, leaning in closer.**

** "Yeah. Genius, right?" Otto chuckled, running his fingers through his hair. "All Plum's idea, too. Swear that girls destined for greatness. She pierced my eyebrow, too!" He pointed to a fishing hook stuck under his left eyebrow.**

** "Are you serious? I spent ten minutes trying to make my way to the steps this morning. Time continuum charms are not funny." I glared at Otto, who's smile had started to falter.**

** "Really? Cause it seems pretty funny," Dray stood up straight, edging a little closer.**

** "You thought all we were gonna do was smoke gillyweed and bitch about teachers?" Otto snarled.**

** "No," I said hastily, "But that was a jerk thing to pull! Someone could get hurt on this one," I desperately tried to defend myself.**

** "Oh, shut up, Leo," Dray spat, "You know, I should have expected this. You're just an elite, Gryffindor hippogriff-hole. Just like your brother." Dray threw me one more dirty look, then walked away.**

**. . .**

**"How am I a hippogriff-hole if I'm just worried about people's safety? That was such a stupid stunt," I kicked a stone as I walked down to Hagrid's with Rocco. "Does Dray even realize that he's an idiot sometimes?"**

** "Actually, it was Plum's idea," Rocco deadpanned, not looking at me.**

** "I don't give a snitch who's idea it was," I grumbled, "It was stupid. Way too over the top. You people could be in a load of dung for that."**

** "You know," I heard from behind me, "I don't think you're mad that the prank was superficial or crazy. I think you're mad that Dray said you were like your brother, and that you weren't even included in the first place." Johnny strode past us towards the owlery.**

** "Shut up," I snapped at him. "How'd you even know in the first place?"**

** "Dray told me," Johnny stopped and turned around. "You boys still going to Care of Magical Creatures?"**

** "Yep," Rocco put in.**

** "Good class," Johnny looked wistfully at Hagrid's ratty shack. "I wanted to keep up with it this year, but my dad put me off of it. He wants me to be a healer. Like him. I sincerely regret it." He looked once at me, and then kept walking.**

** "Has he always done that, and I've just never noticed?" I continued to stare after Johnny's hacked brown hair.**

** "Yes," Rocco snapped me out of hypnosis, and kept walking towards the forest.**

** "Hey! You two!" Hagrid stepped out from behind his hut, waving his finger towards himself, "Get over here."**

** "Did we do something?" I asked slowly as Rocco and I followed the stone wall towards where Hagrid was waiting.**

** "Nah, you two're fine. 'M jus' making sure- you're friends wit' Darius Dark, right?" Hagrid asked, looking from Rocco to me.**

** "Yeah, I'd say so," Rocco responded.**

** "Good," Hagrid walked over to a crippled shelf against the back of the hut, and lifted a large, lumpy brown package. "I'm goin' to need you two to give this to 'im, a'right? I'm lettin' you leave class to find 'im because he said it was pretty urgent. I don't do this fer nobody, though, so don' come to me lookin' to skip a lesson. Jus' come back as soon as yer done. You got that?" he asked.**

** I looked to Rocco, and then back to Hagrid and nodded.**

** "Okay, then," Hagrid held the package out to us, "And, careful. It's heavy."**

** Ten minutes later, Rocco and I finally made it to the castle doors. **

** "Okay, put it down," Rocco grunted. I obliged, and set the package down.**

** "It's not that heavy," I grinned. Rocco glared in return.**

** "Yes it is, and you know it. Even you can't lift. . . whatever that is," he eyed the package suspiciously.**

** "What could Dray possibly need from Hagrid?" I questioned, leaning against the wall. Rocco shrugged, and then his eyes suddenly grew wide.**

** "Stupid!" he smacked his forehead. "Merlin's beard, we're filching wizards! Why didn't we just use filching magic?" Rocco kicked the package.**

** "I was waiting for you to figure that out," I laughed as I pulled out my wand and lifted the package up and through the doors.**

** After walking down the hall, Rocco said,**

** "Dray's normally got a free now, so he'll be in the courtyard." I followed Rocco while still levitating the package. We found Dray moments later looking gloomy underneath the willow in the courtyard. He was strumming at an acoustic guitar and staring off into the distance.**

** "The hell? What's wrong with you?" Rocco asked insensitively. Dray looked up at him, and then inclined his head to the right. I looked and saw Plum in full embrace with who I presumed to be George.**

** "He just got back from break. Evidently his dad was attacked by something. Which must be a huge turn on," Dray mumbled, and went back to plucking the guitar strings. **

** "Jeez," I was still looking at the couple, "she's not very shy about anything, is she? Got her whole leg around- wow," I mediated.**

** "I can see, you perv," Dray sneered. **

** "We brought you something," Rocco said cheerily, sitting down next to Dray as I set the package down on the ground. "Hagrid told us to get it to you right away."**

** "Ahh, excellent," Dray set the guitar aside and leaned for the package.**

** "Ah-ah," I blocked him from the parcel, "you're not getting it until you tell us what it is."**

** "Well, I was gonna show you, fairy. But if you're going to be like that-" Dray's fists clenched.**

** "Okay, calm down," I shoved the package closer to Dray, whose lips curled into a tiny smile before looking away from me and down to the package.**

** "It's dragon flesh," he said as he carefully undid the wrappings, "I'm using it to practice my tattooing on. So far I'm not too bad, but I don't want to risk messing up on anyone other than myself." I craned my neck to look at the contents of the package. I could see a yellowy hide that was slightly translucent.**

** "I thought dragon skin was tougher than human skin," Rocco said, looking at the flesh in slight disgust.**

** "Yeah, it is, which'll make tattooing students all the more easier," Dray informed us, looking proudly at the package.**

** "Plum's piercing, Maddox's drug dealing, and you're tattooing?" I asked aloud. "Is Rocco taking up exotic dancing?" Rocco knocked me to the ground as I laughed.**

** "Seriously, tattooing's actually fun," Dray piped up, "I've mostly been working on bed sheets but I experimented on myself a few nights ago, and it didn't turn out too bad." Before Rocco or I could say something, Dray reached for his collar and pulled off his shirt. I noticed him glance over to Plum quickly before flexing his right arm. On his shoulder was a copy of the Slytherin emblem, and I had to agree with Dray- it looked pretty good, especially for a first try.**

** "Badass," Rocco said, running his finger over the skin. Dray winced a little.**

** "Careful, it's still a little sore. Definitely worth it, though. You can't even feel the pain after a few minutes."**

** I looked over to Plum. She was still locked in with George, but I noticed her glancing in our direction, her eyes slightly narrowed. I looked back.**

** "Hey, maybe after a little more practice, you could give me one, eh?" I nudged Dray a bit, grinning.**

** "Yeah, definitely," Dray nodded, rewrapping his dragon flesh. "Whatever you want. And I'm gonna keep working on myself as well. You want any ink to go with your lip, Rocco?"**

** "Maybe, if I can think of anything I want," Rocco said as he pulled some grass out of the ground, " I mean, Hufflepuff crest doesn't really give off the same bad boy vibe, you know?" As I was laughing I heard Professor Mcgonagall's voice from behind.**

** "Mr. Dark, I'm going to have to ask you to put your shirt back on." I looked up to see her, lips pursed, looking unappreciatively at Dray's stigma.**

** "Oh, come on, Minerva. Nobody's minding," Dray said in a cheery tone, but I knew he was done for.**

** "Mr. Dark, you are to refer to me as Professor Mcgonagall unless you want a detention!" I shuddered with every word.**

** "Ah, shame. I always liked you as a teacher, too. And I thought we were sort of one on one with the 'hating Umbridge' thing," Dray said sarcastically.**

** "This is your final warning, Mr. Dark. Fifteen points from Slytherin, and for Merlin's sake put your shirt back on," Mcgonagall said tersely. Dray paused for a few seconds before saying,**

** "Bite me." The courtyard had gone eerily quiet.**

** "Mr. Dark, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," Mcgonagall said too slowly. Dray picked up his shirt and stood up. **

** "Bring this stuff back to my Common Room," he whispered to Rocco, and then followed Professor Mcgonagall out of the courtyard.**

**. . .**

** Rocco and I had waited in Slytherin Common Room with his guitar and dragon flesh until Dray appeared almost an hour later.**

** "What'd she do to you?" I asked as soon as he appeared in the doorway, shirt intact. He shrugged and made his way to a couch.**

** "She took me into her office and sat me down. First she gave me a detention," he sat down on the sofa as I groaned, "and then she told me that I should be tolerant but mutinous." A wide grin had come over Dray's face.**

** "What?" Rocco and I said at the same time.**

** "Do you know, I think Mcgonagall's known that we've been doing this stuff all along. And she hasn't done anything about it. She said to me that although I shouldn't be direct in my actions, I should still take a stand. At one point she even mentioned something about spotting an unusual plant in the greenhouse," his grin was getting even wider.**

** "And you're okay with this?" I asked. "I don't think a teacher knowing what we're doing is at all a good thing, Dray."**

** "Not when they aren't trying to stop us," Dray was getting that look in his eyes when you knew he had just gotten what he wanted. "Don't you see? We're not the only ones in the rebellion, Leo. There have been more of us all along."**


	20. Chapter 20

**plum.**

**"Oi. You coming? We're all meeting up in the greenhouse," Dray turned around and looked at me.**

** "Yeah. Yeah, I'll be there soon. Gimme a minute," I said, trying to avoid his looks.**

** "Okay. . . We're not waiting for you, you know."**

** "I get it. Go." I glared at him, and then turned away again. I could hear Dray's footsteps disappear. The castle was completely silent. Every student was in their beds, except for us exceptions. I slouched down against the wall, and waited.**

** Finally, "Hi."**

** I looked up and smiled at George. He grinned down at me under his red hair, hands tucked into his pockets. I had felt angsty all day, but George always calmed me down. He made the bowtruckle dung that didn't matter seem to melt off me.**

** "Sit down," I patted the cold ground next to me. **

** "You're being naughty, aren't you?" George teased as he slumped to the floor, "Sneaking out at. . . 12-ish, I'd say?" He nudged my shoulder. I smiled again, but I didn't look at his face.**

** "I wanted to talk to you when no one was around."**

** "A'right. Was' up?" **

** I sighed. "I hate not being honest to you, it drives me out of my head because you're too good for me." I glanced over at George. He was tracing the lines of my face with his eyes- I caught him doing this every so often. When I asked him about it, George said he was trying to read me, but I was encrypted. **

** "Lying."**

** "Yeah. . . I'll just say it. George"-sigh-" I slept with. . . someone. Not you. And I can't filching stand it because I wasn't thinking straight, and I hadn't seen you, and I missed you, and it's been eating me up. And you don't deserve it. You don't deserve a lying bitch. Like me."**

** Silence followed. **

** "Well, you're not a lying bitch, since you just told me." **

** "You're not taking this seriously."**

** "No, I am. I am."**

** I was curled up in a ball, playing with a loose thread on my shoe. I could feel George shifting on the ground next to me. Then he said,**

** "Did I do. . . something? Like, am I not, I dunno, adequate for-"**

** "It had nothing to do with faults of yours," I interrupted him, "It had to do with faults of mine."**

** "Well, what do I say now?"**

** "That's up to you, I guess. I want you to call all the spells here. . . I can't say I'll be happy with what you might choose, but since I filched up, I deserve what I get."**

** "Can I ask you something?"**

** "Fire away."**

** "Was he. . . better? Than me?"**

** "Do you really want to know?"**

** "Yeah. . . but I don't think it'll help." George stood up. **

**"I'll have to think about it. This, I mean. I don't want to keep you dangling, but this in't something I can make my mind up about in a night." George started to walk away. Then he stopped and stuttered- "Just. . . Just-" He turned around, "Remember the first time we met? I bumped into you in the train. And I remember thinking you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. . . but I only thought that after I saw that look in your eyes. It was like- like you wanted to go away with me. Like, jump off the train and just run wherever the hell we wanted to go. And most importantly, I wanted to go with you. And that made me come back." He was looking straight into my eyes, still fidgeting a bit. Then he looked away, muttered, "I'll see you," and walked down the hall, away from me.**

**. . .**

** "Oh, good, I'm not the only late one," Maddox called to me. I was trudging out to our greenhouse. I was kicking up a lot of dirt, and the string from my shoe was starting to unravel the fabric.**

**"Starting to warm up, isn't it?" Maddox observed once he'd caught up to me on the path. I nodded. **

**"You alright?" He asked. I shook my head. **

**"You want to talk about it?"**

** "Merlin, no." I wrenched open the door to the greenhouse, hitting Maddox in the process. I ignored his 'ouch', and stomped into the warm garden, pulled out a stool and sat against a wall, not looking at any of the others.**

** "Somebody's time of the month," I heard Otto chuckle to Rocco. I raised my middle finger.**

**"Ouch, Plum. Your tampon up too far?" Otto shot back.**

** "yeah. Why don't I pull it out and make you eat it?" I snarled. **

** "Will the two of you shut up?" Leo put in. "And ew, Plum. Just- ew."**

** "Where've you and Plum been anyways?" I could hear Bambi to the right of me. She'd inched over to me, slowly. She'd want to know what was up. **

** "I don't know where Plum's been, but I fell asleep on the sofa," Maddox said lightly. "Any of you seen the paper? All those convicts out on the loose, it's a mad house! I wonder if they're aiming for the Ministry, or Potter like the paper says th-"**

** "Nobody cares," Dray interrupted Maddox's thoughts, "We couldn't harvest the gillyweed. You're the only one who knows how."**

** "Oh, right!" I heard Maddox slap his forehead, "Sorry about that, all. I feel stupid now." I snorted, and turned my head farther away from the others.**

** "Can we get harvesting, though? Really? I've got an exam tomorrow, and I want to get some sleep," Johnny grumbled.**

** "It's not that hard to harvest," Maddox said. I heard some sloshing sounds, and turned my head back towards the group. Maddox was elbow deep in the water tank, scooping out the mud pies we'd made last December. There were now long seaweed-like ferns sprouting out of the clay, and as soon as Maddox brought the plants out of the water the leaves drooped and then proceeded to curl up like rolled paper.**

**"All you have to do is uproot each gillyweed leaf," Maddox explained as he plucked out one of the rolled ferns. "Now, you just need to roll over an external piece of paper, and you are set to smoke." Maddox held up the rolled gillyweed with a sense of pride.**

** "Let's get rolling everyone," Leo clapped his hands together authoritatively, and beckoned for everyone to get to work. "Even you, Plum. Let's go."**

** I rolled my eyes, but got off the stool and shuffled over to the table. Someone had precut pieces of paper and stacked them up. I looked over at Rocco, who was scooping out the mudpies and plucking off the leaves. He offered me a fern, and I obliged. The fern felt like sand paper- it was gnarled and bumpy as if coated in a fine layer of sand.**

** "They were in salt water, right?" Bambi asked.**

** "Yes, they were," Maddox said as he rolled the gillyweed up in paper, "And they're probably still coated in some salt, but that's good. It'll soak up the water."**

** Everyone worked in silence for ten minutes. There didn't seem like there was anything to talk about. Or maybe there was, but nobody had the guts to bring it up. But eventually, Rocco plucked off the last gillyweed leaf, Otto rolled it, and it was put in a pile with the rest of the smokes. Well over fifty white cylinders were stacked in a triangular form.**

** "Well," Maddox broke the silence, "Anybody want to be the guinea pig?" Silence ensued.**

** "I'll do it," I said, finally. "Since no one else seems to have the balls to." I picked up the top fag with my thumb and forefinger. After examining it for a few seconds, I asked, "Well? Anyone have a light?" Rocco put his hand up, and dug deep into his left pocket, finally producing a small steel box.**

** "'Course he's got a light," Johnny muttered, grinning to Rocco. Rocco winked at Johnny jokingly, and then leaned over the table as he flipped the box open. A burst of natural gas sprung from its container as a clear flame flickered to life. As I leaned in, fag placed between my lips, I noticed the flame was turning green. And then the end of my paper had caught fire, and the heat had started to crumble the white into black. It took me a moment to remember to inhale. **

** I had been expecting to feel smoke fill my lungs, as if I was suffocating, and that I would want to cough it out. But it didn't feel like there was smoke. Something cold and and smooth was running down my throat and into my lungs, but it didn't suffocate me. The flesh inside my esophagus, which had felt dry, suddenly felt refreshingly wet- like I had just drank cold water. I blinked slowly as I let the feeling overwhelm me. Something was swimming inside my lungs, gently tapping the sides as if it wanted to get out. I exhaled, and my breath came out in a bubble. The orb floated inches away from my mouth and then vanished, not even leaving droplets on the ground.**

** "Well?" I heard Dray ask.**

** "How was it," someone else mumbled, but I didn't pay attention. I didn't answer straight away- I was still trying to explain it to myself. Then I could feel my lips curled into a smile.**

** "Relaxing." I said. And I inhaled again.**

**. . . **

** "Hrm," I grumbled, trying to close my eyes tighter, if possible. Something was on my neck.**

** "Sh, sh, sh," I heard. The thing on my neck was still there, making its way onto my face. I grabbed at it, and felt Dray's solid jaw under my fingers.**

**"Ow. . . could you loosen your grip jus' a bit?" He muttered, the bone under his skin moving up and down. I groaned and let go. Dray went back to kissing my neck, but I tried to roll over, out of his way.**

** "What time is it?" I muttered into the pillow.**

** "'Round four, I think," Dray answered. His long arms were wrapped around me, and I could feel his heart beat on my back. I eased my way around until my cold face was buried in the warmth of his neck.**

** "And where am I?" **

** "With me."**

** "Oh, haha," I mumbled. Dray laughed softly, and I could feel him playing with a piece of my hair.**

** "We're in Ravenclaw Common Room. In your dorm. I don't think any of your room mates are here, though. . . I don't particularly want to find out."**

** I finally opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was Dray's skin. Just his neck, but then I could feel his skin. And in more places than I was used to.**

** "What happened," I asked, with more force than before. I brought my head out of the curve of his neck, and looked Dray dead in the eyes.**

** "You took me up here, and begged for me to stay," Dray smiled. "Then you started taking your clothes off. . . well, I wasn't going to say no. . ." he dropped off as I closed my eyes again.**

** After a moment I asked aloud, "Why do I keep doing this?" I opened my eyes, and I saw Dray was still looking at me. He shrugged, and then rolled off me to the bedding on my side. Quiet pursued until he said,**

** "Do you remember the first time we met?" Dray asked. I looked over at him. He was staring up at the canopy, black hair flopped away from his face.**

** "No," I said plainly, "But I remember the first time we skipped out of Care of Magical Creatures," I felt myself smiling, and I saw Dray smiling, too. His face was staring away the same way it had when we were on the dirt path looking up at the sky, Dray's long black hair flung back by gravity.**

** "That memory's much better than the first time we met," Dray contemplated. "But in a way, it was the first. I got to meet just you." He sighed, then looked at me.**

**"How'd you like the gillyweed?" He asked. I grinned.**

** "It's amazing. It'd be more amazing if it didn't erase my memory."**

** "Your memory's gone because you had to much. It's like alcohol," Dray stated, "you can black out from drugs as well." I nodded. **

** We lay in silence for a while, each thinking about something. Dray eventually sat up and rubbed his eyes.**

** "No one else is in here. Weird. But good. This is gonna sound odd, but d'you have any underwear? It's just mine's sort of. . . dirty."**

** "How could your underwear get dirty?" I giggled to myself.**

** "Dunno, it just is," Dray laughed a bit, too. " 's covered in dirt, I think. . . damn, I don't remember much, either."**

** I sat up as well, searching for a bra. "I've definitely got a pair of boxers around, so you don't have to wear any girl's underwear. Sorry if I got your hopes up." I got out of my bed, and went to my bureau in search of the boxers with the red embroidered stars.**

** "Shame," Dray said sarcastically. Pulling out the pair of boxers in question, I handed them to him as I got back into bed.**

** "Are you going to go to your Common Room, or stay," I asked. Dray shoved his legs into the shorts.**

** "I was gonna go downstairs. Unless that's an invitation," he grinned. I shrugged.**

** "The damage's already done. Oh, I told George I cheated, by the way." **

** "How'd he take that?"**

** "He said he's gonna do some thinking," I said, saying it more to myself then Dray.**

** "Well, a bit of thinking never hurt anyone," Dray said somewhat cheerily, and he got off the bed. "Nice boxers, by the way. I know Johnny's got a pair like these. Where'd you. . ." Dray stopped talking.**

** "What?" I asked. I sat up and saw Dray looking at me worriedly.**

** "What're you doing with Johnny's boxers?" **

** "I don't know what you're talki-"**

** "Cut the act, Plum." Dray was serious now. I sighed, and put my head back on my pillow.**

** "Over winter break. . . it just happened. I didn't even remember until now."**

** "With Johnny, though? Really?" Dray's voice was cracking a bit. "You just had to take one of my best friends? It couldn't be another ass like George?"**

** "Don't call George an ass."**

** "Did you tell him you cheated with me or Johnny?" I heard Dray say, heatedly. His belt buckle jingled as he put his pants on.**

** "I didn't tell him who I cheated with." I said. "I told him I slept with someone else."**

** "Oh, so it must have been Johnny then," Dray snarled.**

** "Yeah, since. . . yeah."**

** "Well, thanks, Plum," Dray was fully dressed now. He stood by my bed, looking at me like he was trying his best to not tear open my mattress. "Thanks for sleeping with my friend, and thanks for not telling me about it. Maybe next time you get with another bloke that's not me, you could give me a head's up so I don't end up crawling back to you like an idiot." And with that, Dray walked out the door. **


	21. Chapter 21

**plum.**

** I had eventually dragged myself out of bed and walked down to the Common Room. Even though it was four in the morning, students were down there talking. I caught my roommate Fifi's eye, and she looked away quickly. This bothered me enough for me to walk over and say,**

** "Why weren't you sleeping upstairs?" Fifi looked up at me slowly.**

** "What?"**

** "You and the others," I repeated, annoyed that Fifi was avoiding her answer, "Why aren't any of you sleeping in your beds?"**

** "You mean. . . you don't remember?" I rolled my eyes, and hastily sat down next to Fifi.**

** "Fifi, last night I was so high I have no memory of anything past twelve. What. Happened."**

** "Oh," Fifi gulped, "Well, you came upstairs and woke us all up 'round quarter to one. You said if we didn't get out that you would, em, piss on the floor, or something like that," Fifi rushed through her words, "so we all came down here and slept on the sofas. Also, I think you had a friend with you, but maybe it was my imagination." I sighed.**

** "Thanks," I finally said, "and I'm sorry. . . I wouldn't have really pissed on the floor."**

** "Well, you'd already pulled your pants down and-"**

** "Alright, that's enough," I stood up quickly, losing my balance. Then I remembered,**

**"Fifi, do you know if Bambi got back to the Common Room?"**

** A fifth year sitting in an armchair interrupted,**

** "No, she didn't come back to our dorm last night. How'd you know?"**

** "Snitch," I muttered. "Oh snitch, oh snitch, oh snitch," I started yelling as I ran out of the Common Room and into the deserted stairway.**

**. . . **

** "Otto!" I ran to reach Otto, who was wandering around the halls as well. His expression mimicked my feelings of confusion.**

** "Where is everyone?" Otto stumbled towards me, "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" I looked down, and, sure enough- only a bra was covering my upper half. I immediately wrapped my arms around my torso.**

**"Are you cold?" Otto asked. I stared at him, incredulous.**

** "No, Otto, I'm half naked. Gimme your sweatshirt," I grabbed at his jacket's zipper. It was only then that I noticed Otto was completely splattered in dirt.**

** "Why the hell are you covered in dirt? Eugh," I grunted as I wrapped the sweatshirt around myself. It almost hung below my knees. **

** "I don't remember a damned thing," Otto defended himself, "And speak for yourself, your hair is covered in twigs n' stuff." Otto put his hand to my head and started pulling. I reached for my hair and immediately made contact with a burr. **

**"C'mon, we should find some of the others," Otto suggested, and together we started walking towards the southern towers. **

** "Hey! You two!" I swiveled around to see Leo coming out of an abandoned classroom. Leo didn't have any shoes on and his feet were splattered in mud. His shirt was wrapped around his head like a turban, and his face was covered in scratches. I began to giggle. Otto started chuckling as well, and before long we were all doubled over laughing.**

** "How the hell did this happen?" I said between laughs. Leo was shaking his head.**

** "You won't believe it," Leo sputtered, "but I actually woke up inside that classroom," he hit the ground in a fit of laughter. **

** "How did we all get so dirty, though?" Otto looked down at himself, his clothes fully splattered. **

** "Where did you wake up?" I asked him, trying to control my giggles.**

** "Outside," Otto smiled. "I was just in the middle of a field. Some of the others might be down there, but I can't be sure. How about you?"**

** "Me? I woke up in bed," I said, not telling them any more.**

** "Well, at least you had enough sense in you to get back to your dorm," Leo put in. I snorted. **

** "As if. Let's go look outside for everyone else," I started walking towards the stairs.**

** "But what if a teacher finds us? Don't you think we should go back to our dorms?" Leo asked tentatively. **

** "We'd already be in enough trouble as it is. Might as well have some fun," Otto shot back.**

** "Otto, we've had enough fun for one night," I called over my shoulder as I started descending the staircase. **

** Just as I reached the bottom, Johnny appeared in the doorway. Johnny was splattered in dirt like Leo and Otto, and sticks in his hair like me. But what I noticed was his nose, which was pouring blood. He had his fingers pinched over his bridge, trying to subdue the stream of red.**

** "Dear Merlin," I cried, rushing over to Johnny. **

** "I'm fine, rearry," Johnny protested, backing away.**

** "You're clearly not fine," I said as Otto and Leo made it to my side.**

** "Here," Leo handed me his wand hastily, almost dropping it.**

** "What the filch do you expect me to do?" I shouted at him.**

** "Rearry, you guys are freaking out, I'm compreetry okay," Johnny continued to protest.**

** "You're a Ravenclaw, you're SUPPOSED to be SMART," Leo yelled back.**

** "Oh, give it here," Otto grabbed the wand and said, "Brackium Emendo." Johnny howled in pain as his nose snapped. **

** "What did you do?" I shouted at Otto.**

** "I fixed it. Merlin, calm down. . ." Otto retorted, handing the wand back to Leo.**

** "Yeah, it's stopped bleeding," Johnny said, feeling his nose. His voice was still very nasally, but the bleeding had stopped.**

**"Does anyone have a tissue?" Johnny asked. When, we all shook our heads, Johnny sighed and said, "Looks like I'll have to do it the messy way. Hold on a mo'," and with that, Johnny walked outside, and blew his nose. **

** Blood shot out everywhere. On the grass, on the stone tiles of the castle, and all over Johnny. Goopy, stringy, gleaming blood. I almost gagged. Eventually, Johnny walked back inside, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his shirt.**

** "That must've been bleeding for a while," Otto observed, "Considering it's been little over an hour since the last time we were high."**

** "Wha? Oh, no, this didn't happen while I was high," Johnny replied, "Dray just did this. . . Aw, son of a bludger! I've got an EXAM in a few hours! Filch!" Johnny kicked the ground angrily. **

** "Wait, what did Dray do?" I asked tentatively. Johnny sniffed once and looked at me.**

** "I had just woken up outside, and was walking back to the castle when Dray started running out towards me. Then he punched me in the face and walked away." I felt my jaw drop. I could distantly hear Leo and Otto laughing.**

** 'He wouldn't,' I thought. 'He wouldn't do that because of what I did. . . actually, yes he would. This is my fault. This is all my fault.'**

** "I wonder if he's still high," Leo snickered. **

** "Nah," Johnny shrugged," If he was, he probably would've missed my face." Johnny stepped outside again, and started walking towards the Greenhouses. I started to follow him without realizing what I was doing. Leo and Otto were behind me, still laughing. I was still lost in my own thoughts when I heard,**

** "Holy- what happened?" I snapped back into focus and saw we had reached the Greenhouses. Johnny and Leo were running towards the one we had planted gillyweed in. Then I noticed that there was a broken window. I started to run, too. **

** "Oh, please. No, no, please," I shook my head over and over, but it was still the there.**

** The greenhouse was a complete mess. Tables were overturned, plants broken on the ground. Sinks were still running, and broken glass was everywhere. I looked up and saw that many of the glass panes on the ceiling were broken. Owls had flown over from the owlery and were perched on the few standing plants, hooting softly.**

** "Nnngh," there was some movement at the back of the greenhouse. A stack of trays tumbled towards the ground, sending owls flying in every direction. From behind the trays was Rocco, covered in more filth. **

** "Rocco, walk towards us slowly," Johnny said calmly, holding his arms out. "There's a lot of broken glass on the floor, and I mean a LOT. Watch your step." He reminded me of a father teaching his child how to walk. Rocco eased himself off the ground, squinting, even though it was still dark out.**

** "What time is it..." Rocco looked around at the dismantled shelves and uprooted plants.**

** "Almost five in the morning," I called to him, "Please, Rocco, we have to get out of here. If anyone finds us-"**

** "I'm moving, I'm moving," Rocco cut me off as he slowly walked towards us, tiptoeing around the broken glass.**

** "Where did all of the plants go?" Otto asked.**

** "What do you mean? They're all here," Leo said indicating the plants lying on the ground.**

** "No, they're not," Otto pointed to the left. On a shelf were at least twenty pots. Their contents had clearly been removed from the amount of dirt overflowing from each pot.**

** "Wait, the fags!" Rocco suddenly shouted. Then, he carefully started to tiptoe back to the broken pile of trays.**

** "What in Merlin's name are you doing?" Johnny hissed at him.**

** "I'm not leaving without the fags," Rocco called back. Johnny rolled his eyes, and walked out of the greenhouse. I followed.**

** "Do you know why he punched you?" I asked following Johnny down the sloping hill.**

** "I can only assume," Johnny stopped walking and looked at me. I stopped walking, too.**

** "You didn't deserve to get hit," I said softly. Johnny shrugged.**

** "I guess not. Doesn't matter now, it's already happened. I. . . I don't really know what to think," Johnny said, looking away from me, "I don't really want to think about it. Which is really strange for me. . . normally, I digest every situation until I boil it down to what I think is the truth," Johnny smiled in spite of himself. I smiled, too."What are you thinking?" He looked back at me. Now it was my turn to look away.**

** "I'm thinking a lot of things. . . that I'm a big idiot, that I seem to not care about anyone else's emotions, that I should have never have met you or Dray or George, that I should just join a convent or something. . ." I stopped speaking. **

** "Well," Johnny said, walking towards me, "For a start, DON'T join a convent. You'd get in too many fights with the other nuns," I started to smile, "Second, don't say you don't care about other people, you're only going to make yourself upset. Third, don't you ever say you wish you haven't had met us because then my sixth year at Hogwarts would have been way to boring. And fourth- yes, you've been a bit of an idiot. I won't lie to you," I looked at Johnny and could see he was trying to read my face, like George.**

** "So, what am I supposed to do?" I asked. Johnny sniffed again, and looked away. Eventually,**

** "I don't think you're supposed to do anything. You SHOULD do something or other, but. . . but that's not a very clear answer," Johnny looked back at me, "You must be really confused," I nodded, "Well, that's normal. Look- whatever you choose to do, at least you will have done something. It's all you CAN do. No matter what, I won't get mad at you, alright? I'm always here." Johnny put his arm around me, and kissed the top of my head. I felt like crying, but I fought against it.**

**"You can cry," Johnny said, "I won't laugh or anything." **

** "No, but any minute the others are going to come back," I whispered, " I don't want them to see." I tried hard to keep the tears back, scrunching my face as if it was force my tear ducts to close. Johnny hugged me hard, rocking me a little. After a minute, my face relaxed and Johnny let go of me.**

** "They're coming," Johnny muttered, and I turned around. Rocco was running down the hill towards us with his arms full of smokes.**

** "I made it out alive, ha!" Rocco called out to us. Otto and Leo ran behind, but Rocco was way ahead of them.**

** "Oh, screw this," I heard Otto say. Then, Otto fell to the ground and started rolling down the hill. Leo laughed, and then threw himself down as well, rolling faster than Rocco could run. They made it to the bottom just before Otto, covered in more mud but laughing all the same.**

** "Do either of you have big pockets?" Rocco asked, panting a little, "there's, like, thirty fags left." I offered him the large pockets of my sweatshirt and Rocco obliged.**

** "Why are you wearing Otto's sweatshirt?" Rocco asked as he carefully loaded his possessions into my sweatshirt.**

** "Cause when I found her, she didn't have a shirt on," Otto grinned. Rocco howled with laughter, but stopped after I punched him.**

** "What in Merlin's name happened to you, then?" Rocco asked, still smiling.**

** "You tell me," I mumbled.**

** "Erm, I hate to be the spoil sport," Johnny interrupted, "but as soon as the sun comes up, and a teacher finds out that the greenhouse has been demolished, we're going to be the first to blame. And we can't go back into the castle to wash, I mean, teachers could already be walking around. . ." Johnny's voice dropped off.**

** "The lake," Otto said matter-of-factly. **

** "The lake," Leo repeated.**

** "To the lake!" Rocco cried, pointing to the lake.**

**. . . **

** As soon as we had reached the water, Otto and Leo had ripped off all their clothes. Otto immediately dived in while Leo, with hands on hips, gazed over the lake.**

** "For Merlin's sake, Leo," Johnny said, "We can see EVERYTHING."**

** "Enjoy it while you can," Leo responded. Rocco pushed Leo into the water before he could say anything else. **

** I opted to swim in my underwear. I carefully placed the sweatshirt on a branch so that the smokes wouldn't fall out, and placed my pajama pants overtop. Walking towards the water, Otto whistled loudly.**

** "Hey, lady. Gonna give us a show, or what?" Otto grinned at me as he floated on his back. I glared at him.**

**"C'mon," he persisted, "do a dance. One dance, that's all I ask." I rolled my eyes, but attempted a few overly staged cabaret moves. Leo joined in the whistling. "I expect payment for that!" I shouted. **

** "Not in your life!" Leo replied.**

** "Yeah, I've seen way better," Otto grinned. I gaped at him. "By my gran," he added laughing. **

** "Oh, yeah?" I shouted at him. I turned around and mooned him. I could hear him howling now.**

** "Plum, mind your loins," Rocco said, laughing as well. I pulled my underwear back up, grinning. I looked to Johnny to see his reaction, but he was too busy making whirlpools with his toes.**

** "Is the water cold?" I called out, shivering already, "cause I don't want to go in if it's cold."**

** "Too late," I heard Rocco say behind me. Before I could say anything, I was lifted off the ground and tossed in to the lake.**

** The water was cold. Very, very cold. I wanted to open my eyes, but I couldn't bring myself to. I had the feeling that I was very deep; sand was swirling around my ears, swishing before settling to the bottom of the lake. I started swimming upwards furiously, heartbeat accelerating. Finally, my head broke the water's surface, and I gasped for air. Rocco was still laughing at me as I flailed around in the water, trying to stabilize myself. **

** "You ass!" I sputtered at Rocco, who was still laughing. I swam over to the edge. "I will pull you in," I said reaching for his ankles.**

** "No!" Rocco protested, running away, still laughing.**

** "Get back here!" I was smiling now, too. "I will pull you in, clothes and all!"**

** Suddenly, Rocco stopped walking. He stared into the trees, and I could barely hear him talking. He turned around and started walking back towards the lake. Then I could see them. **

** MAddox and Bambi were just as dirty as us, if not more. Their clothes were entirely mud soaked, their hair caked with dirt and brush. Bambi smiled at me, and started running towards the water. She dove into the water with a splash, and emerged again. Bambi splashed water in my face, and then dove back under.**

** "Where did you two wake up, then?" I asked, trying to fight off Bambi, who was pulling at my ankles.**

** "In the forest," Maddox said, "I think we were all there. Were you all covered in mud, too?"**

** "Yeah, but that was from the greenhouse," Rocco said, "we destroyed it." Maddox shook his head.**

** "But I think the mud came from the forest. When we woke up, we were surrounded by plants."**

** "That normally happens when you wake up in a forest, smart one," Otto called as he swam closer to the bank.**

** "But they were plants from the greenhouse," Maddox said, "there was no way those plants could have grown underneath all those trees. . . also, it was quite clear that somebody had just planted them." Maddox walked carefully into the water, watching his pants balloon out as they filled with lake water.**

** "Fancy that," Johnny smiled as he floated towards Maddox, "we destroy a greenhouse, go rampaging through a forest, and then replant the plants." **

** "It's a little unusual, yes," Maddox said, submerging himself in the lake, "but it's a quite pleasant thing as well."**

** "Yeah," I said, "I like that. . ." I lay back in the water, watching the sky. The sun was starting to come up, and the clouds were turning shades of orange and pink. Some birds flew overhead, and I could hear them calling to one another the same way I could hear the others calling out from the lake, laughing, splashing the water. I looked back at them and I could see they were all smiling, and watching the sun rise over the lake. And I smiled, too. The elation of the moment was almost too much to bear.**


End file.
